Italian ice shop opens in Collier County after delays due to COVID-19

Ice cream makes a lot of things better. And, during a pandemic, we need something to sweeten up our daily lives. But a new collier county shop has been through its fair share of ups and downs, trying to open with the coronavirus surging in Florida. Still, they are trying to look on the bright side.

We visited Jeremiah’s Italian Ice off Immokalee Road in Collier County Wednesday, where franchise owner Nicholas Frisone has finally opened the doors to his parlor after the onset of COVID-19 delayed him.

It’s hard enough for businesses to stay open during the pandemic and even harder to open up a new store in the middle of it.

But Frisone and his family are thankful they are now able to serve a sweet treat to Collier County, a little bit of Italian ice layered with gelato

“Just the layering the perfect layer of the Italian ice with the soft serve, it’s just unreal,” Frisone said.

Some would agree it’s the perfect recipe to enjoy in the hot Florida summer. But this Florida family says it was not easy to get where they are now.

“We started the process about a year in a half ago before COVID,” Frisone said. “Then, of course, COVID starts, and I was getting pretty nervous. I was like, ‘Why now?’”

Frisone says it messed up plans big time.

“It’s been a long process everything, got delayed,” Frisone said. “Sorry to all the people when we said we were supposed to open February, March. It kept getting pushed back.”

Not only were they delayed in opening their store, but their grand opening was not going to look like what they originally had planned.

“We were not going to be able to have a massive amount of people in here at one time with that carnival atmosphere that we would typically do,” marketing manager Sam Cleavenger said.

The new Jeremiah’s Italian Ice in Collier County made sure it had a strategy to follow guidelines to keep customers safe when it opened for business.

“We’re taking all the procedures to make sure everyone is social distancing, sanitized on every table, and they are cleaned after every guest,” Frisone said.

Now, they can safely serve the community tasty treats, each bite making everyone’s day a little bit better.

“We have been super, super honored to be the bright spot in people’s days,” Cleavenger said. “They are coupled up in the house and frustrated, so it’s great to see the families and friends come to hang out with us every day.”

The busines offers samples before you make your final decision. There are outdoor ordering windows and space outside to allow for easier social distancing.

“I’m just proud of us that we did it, and we could bring smiles to everyone’s faces by giving them ice cream,” Frisone said.