DONN BROWN / Staff

Carvel Ice Cream owner Lisa Johns opened her franchise about four months ago in the Marquesa Plaza at Pine Ridge and Livingston roads in North Naples.

Lisa Johns never expected to become an ice cream maven. In fact, the former pre-med major had her eye on a career in science, when a series of unexpected events steered the UF alumna to forego grad school and swap a degree in physics for a business license.

Now, she owns the brightly colored Carvel Ice Cream shop over in the Marquesa Plaza, at the intersection of Livingston and Pine Ridge roads, and things couldn’t be cooler. Literally.

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“People from up north are very familiar with the Carvel brand,” said Johns, who opened her first business venture back in February. “So they like to come in regularly. We have customers from all over, too. People who come over from Miami on vacation will stop in for a treat and a lot of people who are here on business from Ft. Myers will pick up an ice cream cake or a package of flying saucers to take home.”

It doesn’t hurt that the store is right around the corner from a new hamburger joint.

“I guess having a cold milkshake with your burger and fries is still pretty popular,” said Johns. “This is a nice walking plaza, too, so people enjoy the benches outside when the weather permits.”

Carvel novelty ice cream products are made fresh daily on the premises. From assorted hand-dipped flavors – including a variety of custom recipes – to the ever-popular soft serve ice creams, Johns says longtime customers appreciate the fact that the ingredients used haven’t changed over the years.

The famous Carvel ice cream cakes, with secret crunchies inside, are side-by-side with Brown Bonnets, Chipsters and more. And, for those with special dietary needs, there are sugar-free, non-dairy or no-egg delights in the form of sherbets and ices.

A new beverage line of smoothies, arctic blenders and coffee freezes adds even more variety, while a new kids’ cookie, Little Rounders – chocolate chip with ice cream inside – will debut on customer appreciation day, Sept. 20, and yogurt will reappear on the menu next year.

With different buy-one-get-one free specials and dollar discounts every day, customers frequently plan their visits for a particular day of the week to coincide with other activities.

“A lot of adult customers are nostalgic about coming to Carvel after the ballgame on Saturday, or Thursday nights out,” said Johns. “We hear time and time again that we are really family oriented.”

The wholesome, fun atmosphere with vibrant colors, free samples and even a six-foot high sprinkle tower, help make it an entertaining place to be, but Johns admits it helps that most customers are already in a good mood.

“Most people we see are easy going and lighthearted; so many times they are celebrating a birthday, an anniversary or just enjoying an evening out,” she says. “We have a lot of fun decorating the cakes and experimenting with designs, too.”

She says there no such thing as a mistake. In fact, kids relish Chocolate Volcanoes, an ice cream sculpture of sorts, made from ice cream cones gone wrong and topped with plenty of sprinkles.

For herself, Johns says learning to balance time in the store with time spent out of it to avoid burnout in a shop that’s open every day is critical, but she believes hard work over time will yield results.

“I’m not so good at the front though, because I want to give everything away,” she admits. “It’s natural to want to say, ‘Thanks for being so pleasant,’ to our customers.”

Carvel Ice Cream

13020 Livingston Rd., Ste 6

434-0293