Around Town
Published August 22, 2025 at 2:55PM
Nicecream in Clarendon (staff photo by Katie Taranto)
A longtime family-owned ice cream shop is preparing to close in Clarendon.
Nicecream is shuttering later this month at 2831 Clarendon Blvd, co-owner Gil Welsford confirmed. Welsford, who founded the business 11 years ago with his wife, Sandra Tran, expressed gratitude for his customers — saying, “the Arlington community has just been amazing to be a part of.”
“When we started it, we were 22 years old and didn’t really know what we were doing,” he told ARLnow. “Now, we’re married, we have two kids. Ice cream has literally supported us being able to send our daughter to ballet and our son to swimming lessons.”
Nicecream’s last day is Saturday, Aug. 30
Welsford said the shop is closing because of a 50% rent hike that was not feasible for Nicecream. It will be replaced by a Van Leeuwen, which is “coming soon.”
“We’re bummed to leave. It was not our decision,” Welsford said. However, he added, “At the end of the day, we don’t want to leave our space with negative emotions, because we’ve just had such a positive experience.”
“The choice was on our end not to renew [Nicecream] going forward once they reached their term,” a Regency Centers representative previously told ARLnow.
It will still offer catering and delivery
This is not a full goodbye from Nicecream, Welsford assured, but he declined to comment on expansion plans teased in May.
“We literally love our customers and we love our community,” he said. “We just wish this [closure] wasn’t the case.”
Customers can follow Nicecream’s developments on social media, and the business will continue to cater and deliver pints after its shop closes.
Dining and Cooking