Pop's Premium Ice Cream has been open since June 1 but had its grand opening Thursday.

The idea is the store is introducing — or reintroducing — itself to surrounding communities and signaling the summer season ahead. The business, located in Gales Ferry, also recently joined the Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce.

"We're having the grand opening because we joined the Chamber and the Chamber's coming to do the grand opening with us," co-owner Maryellen Spellman said.

Before the event, Spellman's husband, Dan, looked forward to having "folks from the Chamber, the mayor of the town and other dignitaries" on the premises.

Pop's is part of an expansive farmland and replaces former confectionery mainstay Cows and Cones as the spot for ice cream at what was once known as Alice Acres. There was some consternation over who would buy former owner Peter Bargmann's foreclosed property on 39 Military Highway and whether Cows and Cones would remain in business.

Judging by heavy social media activity, residents are pleased with the new ice cream seller. Praline's in Wallingford supplies the ice cream to Pop's.

"Everybody's super happy it's not going to developers, that somebody bought the land and the ice cream stand is open again," Maryellen Spellman said.

Even though the Spellmans are renting only the building, customers can walk around the farmland, which features scenery and animals such as llamas, alpacas and chickens, as they eat their ice cream.

"The farm had been there, the guy who lost the farm, it was his family farm," Dan Spellman said. "There's not a lot going on in that community, and having a place to go ... it's a beautiful farm, a beautiful place to go to have ice cream."

Dan Spellman works at Raymour and Flanagan in Waterford and Maryellen has worked in the restaurant business her entire life. They made their dream of owning an eatery of some kind a reality, finding the perfect situation in Pop's.

"You can't even imagine how unbelievable it is for us. It isn't even that part of having it, it's the part of sharing it," Maryellen Spellman said. "We didn't do it for this reason, to placate the people, we did it because we wanted to, but they're so thankful that we're here and they have a place to bring their grandchildren or their kids or go on a date or whatever it may be."

Dan and Maryellen met in a diner in Massachusetts in 1986 and married in 1988. They moved from Massachusetts and settled in Norwich 17 years ago, and they have three kids: two daughters and a son. The youngest daughter, Bailey, works at Pop's. One of her two sons calls Dan "Pop," which is where the shop's name comes from.

Maryellen Spellman talked about the organic process in which Pop's thinks up its creative specials.

The Swiss Roll sundae happened because Maryellen bought a box from the store and didn't want to eat the whole thing — "I gotta do something else with these Swiss Rolls or I'm gonna eat 'em all." It's now one of the store's staples.

Then there's the strawberry shortcake sundae, made in honor of Maryellen's cousin, who loved strawberries and died 13 years ago in June.

Pop's currently is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.