Seth Johnson
Sweet Dreams Homemade Ice Cream of Gainesville will relocate this summer to start selling an expanded menu of homemade ice cream, popsicles, baked goods and other treats off of NW 13th Street next to Gainesville High School.
The location used to be a Starbucks and before that a CVS Pharmacy and Gresham Drugs store, but for Manfredi, owner of Sweet Dreams, the location is a new opportunity.
“I know it as my dream location,” Manfredi wrote in a Facebook announcement this week. “This is a huge step for Sweet Dreams and our family.”
Manfredi said in an interview that he is working toward a July 1 opening and will need to at least double the size of its staff—from six to about 12 —to manage the larger location.
He’s looking for entry workers who are willing to learn and will need the expanded staff to cover the expanded hours and increase menu.
Sweet Dreams will start increasing its baked goods output of cookies, brownies, pies and cakes, and the shop will also add a coffee bar with iced coffee, nitro brews and cold brews.
The new location is undergoing renovations, and the property to the west of the building will be used for additional parking. Manfredi said he’s heard only positive feedback on the change—which he says is a strange shock for social media.
Sweet Dreams opened in September 2004 and is currently located at the Westgate Plaza off of 34th Street and West University Avenue near the PDQ. Manfredi said just the patio at the new location will hold more customers than his current shop.
The new location will also provide a stage for performers and a children’s mini ice cream shop in the back. The location change comes as a welcome end to the tough situation Sweet Dreams endured during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was horrible,” Manfredi said. “This is more than the comeback kid. I mean, if I stayed where I was, I feel like I was the comeback kid.”