While she’s only about a week into her new role as CEO of Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream, Jennifer Schuler is “thrilled” with the brand and said she’s excited to continue driving growth for a “strong concept with delicious products and a proven franchise model.”
“It’s rare to find a brand with this much longevity and legacy that resonates with consumers just as strongly today as it did close to 80 years ago,” said Schuler of Ohio-based Handel’s. The concept began in 1945 as an in-home operation, with Alice Handel making ice cream for neighborhood kids, and it’s grown from a single shop to a chain of nearly 130 stores in 13 states.
She was also familiar with the brand as a customer first. Handel’s has about 30 stores in California, and “I live five minutes from one of the top-performing stores in the system, in Pasadena,” she said. “It’s very much entrenched in our family.”
Jennifer Schuler is the new CEO at Handel’s.
Schuler, who left Wetzel’s Pretzels last spring after nine years, including the final five spent as CEO, said she looks forward to applying her marketing prowess to a new brand. Part of the fun and the challenge, she said, is to protect and honor what’s made Handel’s successful “while innovating for today’s consumer.” She likened the company to See’s Candies, the Berkshire Hathaway-owned chocolate and candy maker that’s been operating since 1921 and has more than 200 stores.
“I’m so impressed with how See’s has maintained its quality and respected its heritage,” Schuler said. “We’re the See’s Candies of ice cream.”
Handel’s locations offer 48 ice cream flavors daily, with each batch made fresh in-store. Those flavors, such as black cherry, chocolate chunk and salty caramel truffle, are approachable and family friendly, noted Schuler, with another 140-plus rotating seasonal options. At its core, she added, Handel’s “is a place where people get to slow down, literally and figuratively,” and so even as the brand evolves it will remain rooted in quality and customer service.
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During her time leading Wetzel’s Pretzels, which Papa Murphy’s owner MTY Food Group purchased in 2022, Schuler helped the snack concept grow its store count from 200 to 350 as its average unit volume also increased to just under $1 million. She’s likewise eyeing unit growth for Handel’s through accelerated franchise development as it fills in existing markets and looks to new states such as Arkansas, where its first location is set to open this month.
“It’s a simple business model with a great margin,” she said. The franchise AUV topped $1 million in 2022, and Item 19 of the company’s franchise disclosure document reports net income for company stores was 19.8 percent. The cost to open a store ranges from $311,000 to $936,000.
At No. 358 on the Franchise Times Top 400 list, which ranks franchise brands by total systemwide sales, Handel’s continues to drive sales overall. From $29 million in 2019, it exceeded $100 million in 2023.