Located in downtown Bowling Green, Meltdown Ice Cream and Soda Fountain specializes in unique flavors that can’t be found anywhere else, owner Susan Warrell said.
Warrell said she began making ice cream in her house after a trip to Jeni’s Ice Cream and became immediately inspired by the vast amount of flavors the company offers. Warrell said she began to buy her neighbor’s produce and create her own ice cream at home. Since then, she has been on a journey to turn making ice cream from a fun hobby to a business.
Warrell said she had previously had a photography business she operated out of the Community Farmers Market. However, as she began to create more ice cream than her family could eat, she said she transitioned to selling it at the market as well.
“After about a month, I realized that I was just packing and unpacking the art,” Warrell said. “Nobody was buying it, but I was selling out of the ice cream.”
The name ‘Meltdown’ came after she began to bring her ice cream to the market, and needed a name to go along with her new business. Warrell said she sat down and brainstormed all sorts of ice cream-related terms until she finally landed on the one that felt right: Meltdown.
Warrell said she found selling ice cream at the Community Farmers Market to be a great place to start. She said the people were as passionate about local products as she was, and it was a great place to see if her creative flavors would take off.
Warrell said one of her fondest memories of working at the market was when she was dealing with transporting freezers in outdoor space. She said the other farmers and vendors would help her unload her freezers before each market, and then load them back up at the end of the day.
Warrell operated out of the market for about four and a half years before becoming sick and needing to take a break, she said. After an “inspiring” trip in August of 2020, Warrell realized she was ready to return to ice cream.
“It was through one of those challenging hikes at a park that I realized, I can do this — I’m better; I’m healthy, and I can do this,” Warrell said. “So when we got back, I talked to my husband, and I said, ‘I want to jump back into Meltdown again.’”
She said she returned to the Community Farmers Market as a vendor in August 2020.
“It was great because I had a customer base that already knew my product and were waiting for me just to come back,” Warrell said.
However, Warrell said she was quickly realizing her operation was getting bigger.
“I operated in a shared commercial kitchen and had really outgrown that space,” Warrell said. “So, I told my husband, within two years, I would really like my own space.”
During this time, Warrell also said she was accepted into the Penn State Ice Cream Short Course, a week-long course aimed at educating participants on all things ice cream. Through this course, Warrell said she was able to gain a more complex understanding of the science behind ice cream.
“After coming home from the short course inspired, I found my shop space downtown and just loved it,” Warrell said. “We signed on in May, started our buildout, and opened our doors on Oct. 14, 2022.”
One of the big appeals of Meltdown is that the ice cream is made in-house. Along with that, the ice cream uses produce from local farmers, Warrell said.
“We keep the three flavors: sweet cream, fro-ho-co, and cookies and cream,” Warrell said. “The other flavors kind of come and go according to what’s in season and if I can get something locally.”
Warrell said keeping it local is incredibly important to her.
“It’s important to me to support our local farmers, and when I support them, that is keeping money in our local economy,” Warrell said. “When people buy our ice cream, they’re supporting those local farmers and makers as well.”
Additionally, Warrell said the process of making the ice cream is a multi-day event. She said that it begins with a “cook day,” where employees cook the ice cream and blend it together. Then, they churn it before it goes into the freezer to wait to be brought out to the front.
Warrell said Meltdown’s most popular flavor is cookies and cream.
“We do our own special blend of Oreos in a regular stuf, double stuf and mega stuf,” Warrell said. “We leave them in pretty big chunks, and I think people do like getting an actual big cookie chunk as opposed to just kind of blended up in there.”
Warrell also said that her favorite part about being a business owner is the community that has gathered around her. She said she is incredibly proud of the people she has come to know throughout Bowling Green and beyond.
She said she became close with people from all over during the ice cream short course. After the course, she said she consulted them for help regarding freezer temperatures in her first days of opening.
However, she said being a business owner can be challenging.
“Being one person and doing it all is the hardest,” Warrell said.
Warrell said that the support of the community makes all the struggles worth it.
Sophomore Poe Fogle from Owensboro, Kentucky, said they appreciated the variety Meltdown presented.
“I like the rotation of flavors at Meltdown, that means they always have something new to try,” Fogle said.
Freshman Cora McGriff from Bowling Green said she always feels welcomed in Meltdown. She said anytime she visits, the customers and workers are always very friendly.
“The owner is really nice and works often, always taking suggestions and willing to help,” McGriff said. “It’s a one-of-a-kind place and a great addition to the square.”
With that support, Meltdown has continued to be able to grow. Warrell said Meltdown is also currently working on a website. Through the website, Warrell said people will be able to request orders of coolers full of pre-scooped ice cream. She said they’ve also begun making ice cream cakes they sell in mini-cake form or by the slice.
Meltdown will host its two-year birthday celebration on Saturday, Nov. 9 with a “Stuff Your Stanley Day.” Warrell said customers can bring in insulated cups and have them stuffed full with scoops of ice cream.
Additionally, Warrell said she encourages those who want to start their own business to be open-minded. Ice cream was never on her radar, yet she found a passion for it and stuck with it.
“If you enjoy doing it, then go for it and be ready to put in a lot of work,” Warrell said.