About us

It all started when...

For several years, Norman Miller had a desire in his heart and a simple idea in the back of his mind. He had been working for another company for over eleven years, yet he felt that he wanted to start up “a little something for his family to do on the side,” as he puts it. What was that idea? To open up an ice cream stand. In the winter of 2002, after much prayerful consideration, and together with the loving support of his wife, Gladys, and their four children, that ice cream stand became a reality.

The first step toward that dream was to purchase an old trailer. After cutting off an entire section of that trailer and completely gutting it, Norman began the tedious work of remodeling. He then leased a piece of property right down the road from the Harry Clever Field Airport in New Philadelphia, Ohio. New Philly Creamery was the name, and its doors were first opened in July of 2003. Norman’s wife and children all worked together to run the business during that first season which stretched from July through October.

With much anticipation and excitement, the New Philly Creamery re-opened for its first full season in April of 2004. The creamery took off with a success that continued to grow all throughout the summer and right on until the first days of winter. It was a great year and Norman and Gladys were always careful to give God the glory for all that had been accomplished in such a short time.

Before re-opening for their third consecutive season in the spring of 2005, Norman decided that, because of how quickly the business was growing, he needed to quit his full time job to dedicate more time to the creamery. It also became necessary to hire more than ten employees due to that increasingly busy season.

Two years later, in the winter of 2007, the Millers were asked to open another creamery in Gnadenhutten, Ohio. Once again, after taking time in prayer, they took on that challenge, invested in more equipment, and within one month’s time, the Miller’s Creamery, as they named it, was opened.

Homemade sherbert, one of the many Miller’s Creamery specialties, began to be in a greater demand and, consequently, they became the suppliers for various stores in the area such as Buehler’s Grocery Stores (New Philadelphia and Dover) and many others. The Creamery produced a growing number of individual sherbert flavors and packaged them in quart containers.

In the fall of 2008, a decision was made to relocate the Creamery in Gnadenhutten in order to concentrate and multiply their efforts closer to home. As result of that decision, a second location was soon opened in New Philadelphia. This would later become our Distribution center where all our products are made and shipped from.

In 2014 an opportunity arouse for a third location to be opened in downtown Dover, Ohio. After months of renovations the doors opened for business on May 29, 2015. What set this location apart was its dine in option, for the first time ever we could now offer our delicious ice cream and food all year long. We love being apart of downtown Dover and all our customers have made this location a great success.

At the end of 2018 we finalized our paperwork to being franchising. By the start of 2019 our first franchise was in the works and set to open in the quaint town of Millersburg, Ohio. It was an exciting yet scary time. Our small family business was no longer small and the pains that come along with growing were defiantly present. They opened there doors in October 2019 and have had much success thus far.

“It was just an idea,” explains Norman, “just a little something for the family to do on the side, but the Miller’s Creamery has now become a growing, full time business for us, and, yes, we love what we do!”