Irv’s Ice Cream opened their first brick and mortar shop on Friday at 932 E Passyunk Ave., after honing their business selling delectable treats out of a cart on the Cherry Street pier. Despite zoning records showing this property had previously been used for woodworking and an auto-body shop, the property owners needed a variance from the zoning board, as the parcel is zoned for residential use. We’ve certainly come a long way from 1895, when an Inquirer report on a fire indicated that this site was simultaneously a butcher shop and a residence.

We first speculated about the possibility of an ice cream shop at this location way back in 2011, and Avenue Scoop Cafe secured approval and opened the next year. A few years later, a different summer-time dessert shop, the Chilly Banana, moved in. Offering up sundaes made with frozen bananas instead of traditional dairy based ice cream, the shop closed down its permanant location last year, while still operating a regional food truck. Now, Irv’s is the newest purveyor of frozen treats to open at this address, offering “small batch premium ice cream from scratch.”

It might seem a bit unusual for a third variation of an ice cream shop to open up at this location in a relatively short time period, but there are two reasonable explanations that could come into play. First, repurposing an existing space and its associated build-out is one of the easiest ways to open a small business. We couldn’t tell you how much was changed from the Chilly Banana space, but we have to think the former use made the new shop’s buildout less onerous. Also, and perhaps a little more under-the-radar, pursuing a different type of commercial venture would have likely required a new variance from the zoning board. Most small business owners aren’t looking for that kind of aggravation, making another ice cream shop (par)fait accompli. Eh, on second thought, that joke might have been better for a froyo shop.

We wish Irv’s the best of luck and hope that they’re a neighborhood staple for decades to come. That being said, we wish that Irv’s was opening on the first floor of a four-story apartment building rather than in the existing one-story building pictured above. Though this address is a bit north of the concentrated retail on East Passyunk, a bit more density here would have been a great way to support Irv’s and other nearby businesses, like Royal Tavern and Taco Heart. We had similar feelings when an Asian Bank branch took over a former pizza place next door – happy with the new tenant, bummed that the property doesn’t also include residential density.

With temperatures on the rise, Irv’s has an exciting spring and summer ahead. We look forward to trying out their wares and encourage you to check them out too. Especially considering the long lines we regularly see at John’s on the weekends, it’s great to have some other options in the neighborhood.