Smiley's Ice Cream to open soon in former GetGo location at busy Wesleyville intersection

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Millcreek Township resident Laurie Smialek said she had never tried ice cream from Pennsylvania State University's Berkey Creamery until a few years ago.

These days, at least during the warm-weather months, she makes weekly trips to Penn State to pick up 60 gallons of the signature ice cream at a time.

It's not that she's especially hungry. She and her husband, Jim Smialek, are making all these trips to replenish their supply for their two Smiley's Ice Cream Trucks that do business in the Erie area.

The couple might soon need a bigger truck to bring their supplies, packed in coolers on dry ice, back from State College.

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Plans for permanent location

Sometime in the next few weeks they're expecting to open a brick-and-mortar location in Wesleyville that they will operate in addition to their two ice cream trucks. They're aiming for July 1, she said.

The couple has agreed to lease the former GetGo service station building located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Water Street and Buffalo Road.

Laurie Smialek, a former school cafeteria manager, said she and her husband launched their business in 2018 after getting a good deal on a truck that would serve their purpose.

The couple, who now operate two trucks, have worked some in neighborhoods, but spend most of their time responding to calls from clients, who book their services at birthday and graduation parties as well as employee events. They offer sundaes and hard pack ice cream in cups as well as milkshakes, floats and cotton candy.

Laurie Smialek said she and her husband had been talking about establishing a physical location when a friend, Brian Balogh, offered to lease them the vacant service station location that he owns just east of his business, Woody's Alibi Bar at 3516 Buffalo Road.

Smialek said they're looking forward to the move and to a location that, while still small, will provide more space than the confines of an ice cream truck. She also likes the location at a busy intersection and not far from Wabtec Corp.

'It makes people smile'

She said the business has proven true to its name, a derivation of Smialek, which proves hard for some to spell and difficult for others to pronounce.

"It's a lot of fun. We really enjoy the trucks," Smialek said. "People like the idea of Penn State creamery, for one thing. To have a truck come to their house, it brings them back to childhood. It makes people smile."

Smiaek expects that the permanent location, like the trucks, will be open from April until the end of October.

Contact Jim Martin at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Owners of Smiley's Ice Cream plan to open new location in Wesleyville