Milkshakes bringing customers to Indianapolis stores. Desserts shops opening this summer

Indianapolis Star

14-05-2025

Cool sweet treats shops are opening in the area just in time for rising temperatures.
MilkShake Factory is opening a couple of Indianapolis-area stores this summer.
One in Nora opens in June. Another, in Avon, follows this July.
The brand offers a range of handspun gourmet milkshake flavors, as well as limited-time options, sundaes, small-batch chocolates and non-dairy shakes.
The 1300 E. 86th St. store in Nora and the Avon shop, at 8932 E. Highway 36 will be among the first 20 franchised locations in the system.
The first MilkShake Factory opened in 2003 in Pittsburgh. The family-owned company evolved from a soda fountain and chocolate shop opened in 1914.
The team behind the local stores, North Carolina residents Kindall Palmer and Alex Chandler, plan to build more in the area.
They currently operate a location in Durham, opened last summer, and another which opened in the Raleigh suburb of Cary in February.
The pair, who met as business students at the University of Utah, can open up to 15 locations total between the two metropolitan areas. Four of them will be in the Indianapolis area.
'You can get milkshakes at a lot of different places, but most places where you get them, it's kind of just an afterthought or a little side thing that they do; so that quality and dedication is not always there,' Chandler said. 'When you sip a MilkShake Factory milkshake, you're tasting that difference, because this is what we do. We focus solely on this; so there's a high degree of quality and perfection that goes into it.'
Ice cream for the vanilla milkshake base is made in store daily using an exclusive recipe.
Among flavors are Chocolate Dipped Strawberry and Campfire S'mores.
The chain recently debuted the Chocolate Cake Shake and handcrafted Chocolate Cake Pop for a limited time. The shake combines chocolate cake with house-made chocolate sauce, chocolate ice cream and milk, topped with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and a cake pop garnish. The cake pops are dipped in MilkShake Factory's signature chocolate and hand-decorated in-store.
Chandler learned about MilkShake Factory through social media, and on a trip Pittsburgh for a wedding, he took in the flagship store downtown.
'The first thing that strikes you walking in is just how gorgeous of a space it is. It's a very modern take with kind of this iconic throwback to the old soda fountains of like the 50s and 60s that previous generations would hang out at and get a sweet treat. It's got that feel to it, but kind of in a modern way. So it's a very clean and vibrant store,' Chandler said.
There are about 18 locations in seven states. All of MilkShake Factory's Pittsburgh locations are corporate-owned. The Indianapolis shops are among 12 underway.
Chandler has experience in selling treats and getting in early on franchises. He has about 10 Crumbl locations in the Detroit, Michigan, area. He joined that company in 2020 when Crumbl had only about 60 stores.
"So anything with sugar, we'll sell it," he said. "We like the sweet tooth, so it makes it fun."
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Since the brand has its genesis in chocolate, it makes sense to find a chocolate bar near the store entrance.
Each milkshake is topped with a triangle of chocolate made from the family recipe.
There'll be seating for about 12 inside each store, which will have 15-20 workers each. The patio in Nora will seat 20.
Demand has already shown itself with folks trying to get in the doors weeks ahead of the openings, Palmer said.
'At both locations, Avon and Nora, we get knocks all the time, like, 'Hey, where's my milkshake?'' he said.