“I wanted [it] to be a place where you are like, ‘I don’t know what we are doing’ or ‘I don’t really want to go do much, but I just want to go somewhere and relax, chill with my friends, and have a good time.’ We want to be that space for everyone.” said Lemeir Mitchell, the owner of Happy Ice, on grand opening day in Northridge, California.
Happy Ice, a Los Angeles favorite known for its location on Melrose Avenue and its roots as a food truck, opened its second brick-and-mortar store in Northridge on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. The stop was under construction for five months, and received health inspection approval just one week before its grand opening.
Since founding Happy Ice, Mitchell and his wife, co-owner Danielle Emani, have remained hands-on, working behind the counter ensuring everything runs smoothly. After overcoming challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Happy Ice has celebrated a seven-year journey.
The line stretched down to the California Chicken Cafe. The first 50 guests received exclusive T-shirts and tote bags filled with gifts inside, including bandanas and other goodies. As these sold out, the crowd continued to grow with many taking advantage of the day’s buy one get one free promotion.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony began at noon, but customers were lined up as early as 8:40 a.m. The shop stayed open until 10 p.m.
“This is only our second brick-and-mortar,” Mitchell said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “We’ve expanded from one food truck. We used to be out there for 12 hours and make 40 bucks.”
Mitchell expressed joy at seeing the crowd, comparing the experience to throwing a party and worrying no one would show up.
Happy Ice has been a vendor at many CSUN events in the past, including Matador Nights 2023.
“Northridge was an easy choice for us, just because of the support that we got organically from the city.” And so we really, you know, I feel like I like to focus on where the love is, and the love was here. And so I wanted to give it back by providing this store for such an amazing city that helped put us in a position that we are today,” said Mitchell.
Just before the doors opened, Brendan Gonzalez, district representative for the San Fernando Valley, and Senator Caroline Menjivar recognized and presented Mitchell with a certificate for the grand opening.
Happy Ice serves water ice, a Philadelphia and East Coast speciality that Mitchell describes as combining refreshingness of shaved ice, the fruitier of sorbet and the creaminess of ice cream. The shop offers dairy free, nut free, vegan friendly options with flavors like “Rainbow Rocket,” “Founder,” “Time Machine,” “All Star,” and “Summer Time.” Customers can also add soft-served Gelati or sweet bean ice cream to their water ice.
Ashley Aguilar, a customer local to the San Fernando Valley, said it wasn’t her first time trying Happy Ice. “First time was in Smorgasburg, I think two years ago, almost two years ago now, and it was great. I mean, from the first time I had it, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s refreshing.’ It’s not in the way, just biting it to the texture, everything. It’s really good.” Aguilar said. Happy Ice had their truck stationed at the Downtown Disney District in Anaheim, California, from June 14 to Sept. 12.
Friends, family, and the San Fernando Valley community came together to support and enjoy the music and seating. Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Victoria Monét, visited with her family, and one customer gifted the shop a bouquet of money flowers.
Since founding Happy Ice, Mitchell and his wife, co-owner Danielle Emani, have remained hands-on, working behind the counter ensuring everything runs smoothly. After overcoming challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Happy Ice has celebrated a seven-year journey.
When asked about advice for students and future entrepreneurs, Mitchell said, “My biggest advice would be to, one, always self-educate. Business is hard, but the way you stay motivated is by learning, because as you learn, you grow mentally, and you start to implement new things, and you start to have, you know, make progress. The most important thing you can do is be consistent with great habits. If you got great habits and consistency with that, the results will begin to show up.”
Reminiscing on the memories Mitchell had growing up, he wanted to give a space that remained special to him. Throughout the grand opening, he interacted with customers, took photos and checked on the store’s operations, guiding employees on ways to keep the line moving efficiently.
“Our new mission statement today is, ‘bringing families and friends together for happy memories.’ So our goal is– our mission is [that] you’re going to see that live in everything that we do. So all [of] our stores will be bigger. All of our future stores will have seating. All of our future stores will have experiences where you want to come and spend time with someone that you love, and love spending time with,” said Mitchell.
