Ashley’s Ice Cream: A New Haven staple

By: Tyler Powers and Ellis Santoro

Any ice cream shop located on a college campus is a recipe for resounding success, but add 35 straight years of winning “Best Ice Cream shop in New Haven,” and it’s easy to understand the success of New Haven’s Ashley’s Ice Cream.

The name is based on the celebrity dog, Ashley Whippet, who made a name for catching frisbees in the 1970s. The New Haven location on Yale’s campus is near a number of commercial businesses. It’s on the same street block as Toad’s Place, a popular nightclub amongst college students, which combined with Ashley’s 10 p.m. nightly closing further gives clues into the successful business of Ashley’s.

Their New Haven location is the original, but Ashley’s has expanded to four additional locations in Connecticut, which includes Hamden, Branford, Madison, and Guilford.

“We’ve always been here. A New Haven staple, if you will,” said Mike Kochis, a manager, partner and shareholder at Ashley's. “Being on campus is a big deal. We’re in a good location.”

CTNow, formerly called New Haven Advocate, has given their yearly award of “Best Ice Cream Shop in New Haven” to Ashley’s every year since 1985—although the award has been paused since COVID started. It’s the most notable regular award Ashley’s receives because it’s based on community voting. Each yearly edition is framed and hung on the wall next to the front door.

“I have mixed feelings because you look at award shows and everybody always rolls their eyes. But at the same token, competition is always good for the market,” Kochis said. “With any award show or ceremony, I always felt like it's about opinions in that whoever liked us is going to reward us. But the New Haven Advocate actually had voting, they would advertise it and the customers could vote to see who’s the best in the area. We were always the most mentioned, so we always won the New Haven Advocate.”

Ashley’s maintains its reputation through its product, which includes fresh ingredients and whipped cream made in the store.

“We don’t do much for advertising. We’ve pretty much established our name.” Kochis said. “We always seem to have a name for ourselves on the shoreline because that’s where all our stores are. Yale will help us because we rent from Yale. They do billboards and such for marketing. For the other Ashley’s locations, maybe a local publication here and there, but not much.”

While some ice cream shops are only open seasonally, Ashley’s is open year-round.

“We’re very weather dependant. Plus, Yale is not always here. So we do take a hit in the winter; obviously we have more of a seasonal summer product,” Kochis explained. “Our cakes really carry us through. We do custom cakes. I think the balance of it all is we make up for it in a busy spring and summer.”

Even though Ashley’s is an old place, they’ve been able to change with the times and keep up with their competition. The product and business model has stayed similar, but the reputation continues to grow.

“I give our new competition some credit. Some of it is gimmicky, but if they were to win it one year, maybe they deserved it,” Kochis said. “Winning it for so long, I think that’s just bragging rights in being consistent. I wouldn’t mind partaking in the future just to keep it rolling. But who knows what the future is.”