By Robin M. Perry
For the Salisbury Post
KANNAPOLIS — “It’s a happy kind of thing,” says Sheila Beaver, co-owner of Tubby’s Ice Cream shop on North Cannon Boulevard.
Ice cream is a food that just automatically makes folks smile, no matter what the age. Sheila and husband, Mike, along with daughter Julie Beaver Talbert opened Tubby’s in January and have been selling 32 flavors of ice cream and receiving lots of smiles ever since.
Their shop also offers deli sandwiches, gourmet apples, homemade pound cake and ice cream treats from sundaes to milkshakes, homemade waffle cones and hurricanes (a super thick shake with candy pieces in it).
The Beavers’ history with Tubby’s goes back 28 years to when they bought what was then the Humdinger at the Carolina Mall in Concord. They renamed it Tubby’s and sold ice cream and sandwiches. The name came from a favorite movie of theirs, “Holiday Nights,” and Tubby’s was the name of a drive in shop. In January, they bought Ollie’s Ice Cream shop, and are back with Tubby’s. Mike and Sheila also have a concession business selling funnel cakes and treats at fairs, including the Faith Fourth.
“We’ve been in the food business for over 40 years,” says Sheila. “We’ve talked about opening our own shop again for years, and now that we have, we really enjoy it,” she added.
They have been pleasantly surprised while serving their sweet treats to customers of all ages. “We get a happy feeling seeing everyone enjoy their ice cream,” said Sheila.
Julie likes to see the little hand prints on the glass cases. “It’s great to see the kids smile,” she adds.
Amy Mitchell and daughter Mae were customers before, but they like Tubby’s even more now. Mae loves the superman flavor ice cream.
Another regular, Jeanie Measmer, from Landis, said she comes two to three times a week for their butter pecan ice cream in a waffle cone. “I skip lunch for this,” she said.
There are more than 30 ice cream flavors to choose from, including such tasty confections as cappuccino crunch, caramel cookie monster, royal red velvet, roadrunner raspberry, cotton candy and birthday cake.
They also offer sugar free ice cream in chocolate and butter pecan and frozen blueberry cheesecake yogurt. You can order your favorite flavor in a homemade waffle cone. After tasting a few of these, the roadrunner raspberry was my favorite.
They also offer sandwiches such as their homemade pecan chicken salad ($3.79) or deli sliced smoked turkey ($3.29). You can even get an old fashioned grilled cheese ($1.79) just like mom used to make. Gourmet apples are another favorite.
They take granny smith apples and dip them in caramel, then roll them in chocolate (white or dark) and nuts or candy. The apple pie one is rolled in graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon, and brown sugar. You slice them up and enjoy every bite. Julie also makes the pound cake they serve — and you can even get real fresh squeezed lemonade or orangeade.
Mike Beaver said they want to have a nice, clean place where folks can come have a sandwich and some great ice cream and just enjoy themselves.
“We love to see the kids smile,” he says. When you think of it, an ice cream shop is a happy kind of place. “Happy for us,” says Sheila, “and happy for the customers,” she says.
They welcome folks to come celebrate birthdays or any occasion there. Their grandson is on the state champion Salisbury High School golf team, and they mentioned they would like to have the team in to celebrate soon.
They are located at 1901 N Cannon Blvd. at 19th St. (near the Family Dollar) and are open from noon-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1 p.m.-9 p.m. on Sunday.
In June, they plan to stay open until 10 p.m. They do catering and also have in- store parties.
You can reserve space to have a birthday or ice cream party by calling 704-933-6128.