By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Long-time Hays entrepreneurs Dallas and Dacia Haselhorst are set to bring one of America’s most notable ice cream brands to downtown Hays with the opening of a Cold Stone Creamery that will be located inside their building at 507 Main.
They purchased the building, best known as the long-time home of the Hays Daily, in 2021 and has since become the home of TreeTop Security, as well as STEM Harvest, a science, technology, engineering and math learning center, both operated by the Haselhorst’s. The Hays Daily also rents office space in the renovated building.
While the facility has seen significant changes since the purchase, this latest addition was a part of the plan from the get-go.
“My wife and I were kind of talking like, ‘What else can we do at this place?’ And I don't know if we simultaneously said it, but it was pretty close,” Haselhorst said. “The Cold Stone was pretty much the number one item beyond what the building was originally purposed for.”
While the details were worked out later, he said as renovations were underway, the idea was a part of the design plans.
“It was very much in the design process because there's a walk-up window there,” Haselhorst said. “So, if you were to order off the app, we'll make the ice cream and stuff for you, put it in the freezer, and then you come up show that you purchased that or made that order, and you can take off right from there.”
He also said with the redesign of the exterior, they will be able also to feature outdoor seating.
“Cold Stone was always very much in that grain of thought that we were going that way,” Haselhorst said.
He hopes the location will help accentuate downtown, adding something new to Hays with a brand that is recognizable enough to draw people downtown.
“At the end of the day, we want people to come downtown and see what makes downtown great,” Haselhorst said. “We love downtown. We felt like, with us purchasing that building, there were a lot of things that we could do with it, whether it's from the STEM education standpoint or bringing in businesses.
“It's really just kind of our adding our own flair and a little bit more to downtown than what we have now.”
And marketing to travelers is a big part of the plan when the location opens.
“A majority of what we do are going to be putting billboards, 30 miles south, 30 miles east and 30 miles west,” Haselhorst said. “If we're going to pull somebody off of interstate, that brand recognition helps us.
“And that'll probably be part of the message, ‘Hey, come downtown, grab an ice cream, walk around and see everything that makes downtown Hays cool and what makes it a great community.”
Tie-ins with downtown Hays events and other businesses are also being discussed.
With the idea incorporated into the building’s redesign, he said much of the structural work is already in place, and the new location's design has been set.
It will feature the latest look for the brand.
“This will be probably a more modern look than any other Cold Stone you've ever seen,” Haselhorst said. “It's actually really cool.”
While owning the location, they will hire a manager, although Dacia will complete operations training.
“She'll be there, not a day-to-day standpoint, but more like a management standpoint to make sure that we understand the full operations and things of that nature,” Haselhorst said.
He expects to open the location in mid-late August.
With the addition of Cold Stone to the building, the front office spaces are full, but space remains available.
“We've had all we've had people approaching us about anything and everything at this point,” Haselhorst said. “it's a big, big open space, and you can kind of make it to whatever you want.”