Visitors to Young's Jersey Dairy will be udder-ly surprised when they order their ice cream, cheese curds and other treats from the farm's new 22,000-square-foot Dairy Store, expected to open this spring.
Construction on the $3 million building began in August, and Chief Executive Officer Dan Young hopes it will be finished in May or June. It will replace the current store, which was built in 1968 and has been expanded several times, most recently in 1990.
The new store will completely replace the current one, which will be torn down, Young says.
When the Dairy Store moo-ves to its new location, visitors will also see a sweet addition: windows inside and along the front porch to watch ice cream and cheese being made.
“I'm really excited about that because it connects what we're doing more visibly and gives folks a chance to see what's happening,” Young says.
The new store is more than twice as big – 22,000 square feet compared to 10,000 square feet – and will have more indoor and outdoor seating, in addition to more than twice the restroom capacity, Young says.
The new building's front porch is a little more than twice the size of the current one, and the store will also include a patio on the south side of the building. Indoor seating will increase by about 50 percent, he says.
“It's a lot bigger, and a lot more spread out,” he says.
When construction is complete, parts of Young's will be closed for a few days in order to move equipment into the new building. When the old Dairy Store is torn down, that space will be used for parking, Young says.
COVID concerns have caused Young's annual Easter egg hunt to be cancelled for the second year in a row, but other events are planned for this year.
Young's expects to hold a grand opening for the building later this year in combination with its annual birthday party. Young's, which celebrates its 152nd year in 2021, delayed its typical January party and will postpone its annual March pint sale. Instead, it is planning to hold them and other activities and events over a 70- to 90-day period in the spring and summer when the weather is nicer and the outdoor areas can better be utilized.
“Let's make it one continuous celebration,” Young says.
The new Dairy Store will also have two meeting rooms, which will be able to hold about 60 people combined. But visitors to Young's will soon have another option for meetings and events as well.
The Golden Jersey Inn restaurant, which closed in March, will not reopen and will instead be converted to a space for meetings, parties, receptions, rehearsals and other gatherings, Young says. Called the Young's Event Center, it will have a capacity of up to 180 people for seated meals after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. He expects it to open in the late summer.
Changes to the restaurant had been considered before the pandemic, including increasing the size to accommodate banquets. COVID-19 and the realization that the additional capacity at the new Dairy Store would be able to handle Young's busiest days resulted in a shift in thinking.
“Why not think about converting that space to just an event space?” he says.
The pandemic resulted in another big change at Young's – the addition of a drive-thru. It was created over a four-day period at the beginning of the pandemic and has quickly resulted in about 25 percent of Young's business.
A new drive-thru will be put in place when the new building opens, he says. It will likely be available for at least a couple of years and then reevaluated.
“I know a lot of folks really like it,” Young says.
The changes at Young's are the result of an incredible amount of foresight, says Chris Schutte, vice president for destination marketing and communications for the Chamber of Greater Springfield. Young's is already a destination, and including elements like the ability to watch ice cream and cheese being made adds to the attraction.
“Travel and tourism is all about experience,” Schutte says.
The addition of the drive-thru and turning the Golden Jersey Inn restaurant into an event space are examples of just how well Young's can transition to meet new circumstances. Schutte says the amenities of the new Young's Event Center – including its proximity to Springfield, Yellow Springs, Dayton and Beavercreek – will help it fill a niche for small conferences, wedding receptions, reunions and other events of a similar size.
In addition to drawing visitors, Young's continues to add to the quality of life for Clark County residents. After all, if you are building a place that you want to visit, Schutte says that you also are building a place that you want to live.
“It's a big part of the fabric of Clark County,” he says.
Young is looking forward to welcoming more visitors, and the new Dairy Store is one more way Young's Jersey Dairy is improving the guest experience, he says.
“We're happy to be able to get this done because it will really set us up good for the next 20 years,” Young says.