Jim's Ice Cream Barn Closed for good after only 5 years, Future of Ice Cream.

Jay Gee's Ice Cream has seriously crushed Jim Solloway's hopeful of running a successful business up at Salem NH when they opened up a year-round ice cream stand up across the corner from where Jim's Ice Cream Barn has been going through.

But many ice cream stands across New England are endanger of shutting down, thanks to the fierce competition between Ben and Jerry's, Cold Stone Creamery, and Baskin Robins.

Other stands that could be closing in the next 5 to 10 years includes Uhlmans in Marlborough, Dairy Joy in Weston, and Kimball Farms in Westford, Lancaster, Carlisle, and Jaffery NH.

Kimball Farm has been around since 1939 and has expanded to 4 locations since 1989 shortly after Mike and Peter took over.  But signs are that the ice cream equipment there is getting old and out of date, not to mention that rumors of another ice cream parlor opening up at the now "mostly" empty Conant's Store in Littleton where the Littleton Sub Shoppe and Pub is.  Could it be another Jay Gee's (3rd location) or maybe a Ben and Jerry's but who knows, It could be that the Littleton Sub Shoppe maybe expanding again and calling that the Littleton Ice Cream Shoppe.

So how will the ice cream market in New England be transformed by 2030?  We are predicting that about 75 percent of the ice cream stands will be closed for good at that point, as many larger chain ice cream parlors and stands make it's debut.  Dairy Queen has taken notice of it and is now in the process of closing down seasonal braziers and updating them to year-round Grill and Chill fare, eventually fazing out the name Dairy Queen and renaming them as DQ Grill and Chill.  Furthermore, Dairy Queen plans to move more business to the malls and food centers at highway rest stops.  Will Kimball Farm move from the right now 4-location business to become competitive against Cold Stone Creamery and Baskin Robbins?  They may have to, since Jay Gee's is likely to open more stores and compete with Kimball Farms.  But who knows, within the next 15 years, Kimball Farms will likely have 10 to 15 locations open by then, or serve ice cream to restaurants around the area, perhaps opening a few locations at rest stops for travelers to enjoy.

But whatever we say, it is clear that the seasonal ice cream stands are clearly on life support and are being squeezed out by big-name ice cream places, just as Wal-mart is replacing the little downtown guys.

But let's be sure, the ice cream market in New England is here to stay!