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I scream you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Have you ever been to Fraluz Frozen Treats in De Pere? If not, it’s definitely worth a visit! Fraluz is a locally-owned “Build-Your-Own Sundae Bar” destination, located in the strip mall that is part of Festival Foods in West De Pere, nestled between Papa Murphy’s & Jimmy John’s.
Fraluz opened in May of 2013 by Dee Dee Zwicky and is named after her two young daughters, Frances and Lucy. Dee Dee is also a third grade teacher at Wrightstown Elementary School and had always wanted to own an ice cream shop. Unfortunately, due to chronic arthritis in her arm and hand, scooping ice cream was not a possibility. But on a family vacation to Sioux Falls, South Dakota in the summer of 2012, she was inspired to open her own shop with yogurt/ice cream machines after a stop at a big name frozen treat shop.
After returning home she investigated becoming a Red Mango franchisee but then decided to start her own independent shop. Initially she recruited long-time friend, Lynn Miszewski, to help with the business, but it wasn’t long until Lynn became Dee Dee’s business partner and co-owner of Fraluz. They like to think of themselves as a “Mom & Mom business”. Lynn has two older kids–a son and daughter–and is heavily involved with Soap Box Derby Racing with her son & husband.
Because Fraluz is locally-owned they can decide where to buy their products from and are not dictated by a national chain. That means many of their products come from local cows! Besides supporting the community through buying local products, Fraluz also likes to give back to the community. Among other things, some of the things they do or have done in the past include:
- Giving a 10% discount to students and teachers with ID’s
- Product donations to a Dance Marathon at St Norbert College, which helps local families having children receiving services at Children’s Hospital
- Donations to Relay for Life
- Donations to Special Olympics
- Fundraising for clubs and local schools
- Tours for homeschoolers, Girl Scouts, FBLA
- Guest speaker for 2nd graders at Hemlock Creek
- Sponsoring sports teams
Fraluz sells yogurt, ice cream, custard, sorbet, gelato, Italian ice and Hawaiian ice. They have 5 machines offering 10 different flavors plus 5 twists for a total of 15 flavors on any given day! To keep things interesting they change flavors throughout the week. You can choose from different cup sizes and then after choosing your flavor/s and filling your cup, you can add toppings from their large topping bar with over 50 different topping options. (Watch for hard pack Cedar Crest ice cream to be making a summertime guest appearance.) When you’re finished making your frozen creation you put it on the scale to weigh it and pay .48 per ounce.
After creating your frozen treat, you can take it to go or better yet, enjoy it with your family in the bright, cheery and clean sitting area. There are plenty of tables & chairs to choose from and some couches for real relaxing. To enhance your experience, there is free wi-fi access, many books to choose from as part of their lending library and several board games available to play a game with the family before, after or while you eat. There are also toddler toys and a large chalkboard to occupy the kids while you enjoy some adult conversation or the like. And, of course, there are restrooms including one with a changing table. I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised when visiting Fraluz a few weeks ago with my girls–after eating their frozen treats they played quietly with some games for at least an hour without even talking to me (or fighting 😉 ) and I was actually able to get some work done while we were there!
Fraluz also hosts Princess Story Times about once a month held by Pixie Dust Performances. These are typically on Saturday mornings. If you want to catch one of these, check out the Pixie Dust Performances Facebook page for their list of events. It costs $5 per child which includes the story time and meet & greet. If you want to stay for a frozen treat afterwards, that is additional and normal prices apply.
Finally, if you are looking for a fun and unique birthday party destination for your child, Fraluz is a great place to host a birthday party! I recently had my daughter’s 5-year birthday party here. It is very reasonable, starting at only $3.50 flat rate per child to make his/her own frozen creation for up to 20 kids. You can bring in all of your own decorations and they will help you set it up however you would like. We did a Willy Wonka theme, which was very fun (pictures below). I wouldn’t have been able to accommodate 20 kids at our home, so this was a great, inexpensive and fun option for my daughter’s party. For additional cost they also have options to build your own custom birthday party with the addition of manicures, balloon animals, a princess character visit, making ice cream and more. Contact Fraluz for more information at 920-632-7254.
So the next time you are looking for a fun, family outing, check out Fraluz Frozen Treats! You can find it at 1031 Main Ave in De Pere.
HOURS
Spring hours
Sunday-Thursday: 11-9
Friday-Saturday: 11-10
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