BY MELANIE ROSSIE
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

MARSHFIELD — With two Marshfield locations, Hub City Ice Cream Company provides a place to cool down all summer long.

Serving over twenty-four rotating flavors made by Wisconsin’s own Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, Hub City’s original southside location at 1610 S. Central Ave. was opened by Dave and Sandy Freeman in 2013.

Hub City Ice Cream’s new owners, Tom and Jenn Witzel, took over in January 2022.

Originally, they saw no need to open a downtown location; however, after being asked by community members and doing their own research into Marshfield’s needs, they became convinced. 

“We realized that there was a desire and a need,” Tom Witzel said. “Having been in other communities where there were downtown ice cream shops, we saw the success that they were having, so we thought that it would be worth giving it a try.”

Their downtown location at 111 W. Second St. opened in May 2024. So far, the biggest challenge to opening the new location has been making Marshfield residents aware of it.

“It’s kind of slow-going right now. I think a lot of it is people not realizing that we’re here. I wander around the [Wenzel] plaza…during events, and people are surprised to hear we have an ice cream shop right across the street,” Witzel said. 

Each of the two Hub City Ice Cream locations has something unique to offer.

“When Dave and Sandy opened the business, they purposefully did not put a drive thru at our south side location because the vision was it would be a destination, and it really is,” Witzel said. “We have a lot of people that will come, they’ll sit for hours, they’ll have their ice cream, and then they’ll just sit and talk. We have people that come in and say, ‘Oh, I’m meeting family, they’re in town visiting and so we decided to meet here.’ It’s really a destination location on the south side,” he added.

“Our downtown location is more of a grab-and-go, but it’s right across the street from the [Wenzel Family] Plaza. It’s a nice gathering place where families can bring their little kids and turn on the splash pad. It’s free, and they can play around with the water, have a good time. It’s definitely a nice gathering place, whether it’s for events, concerts, or just hanging out with family, enjoying the splash pad or grabbing a dinner in the downtown area and sitting in one of the chairs.”

For Tom and Jenn Witzel, the benefits of owning and operating Hub City Ice Cream Company are twofold.

“We have a wonderful staff,” Witzel said. “It’s really fun to work with our staff, and we really rely on them. It’s mostly high school, college-age kids. They start with us oftentimes around age sixteen, and then they work for us as a seasonal business when they’re out of school. They work for us into their college years sometimes.

“The other part of course is seeing our youngest customers as they come in. There’s nothing quite like a child eating an ice cream cone and the way their face lights up as they get that item handed to them. And even kids of all ages. We have adults that when we hand them a banana split and they see how beautiful it is, they just light up, and that’s exciting. Just seeing that occur is a really fun thing.”