The Hop west
An incredible opportunity to become part of West Asheville.
The Hop West at 721 Haywood Road
In October 2010, directly after Greg “retired” from coaching at UNC Asheville, an incredible opportunity to open a shop in West Asheville became available. Without hesitation, The Hop moved into the space and quickly settled into the neighborhood.
Now needing more ice cream than ever, the Garrisons looked towards their staff for inspiration and input, asking for their involvement in growing and evolving the business. Up until this point, the Hop had been able to run with only a mere handful of staff alongside Greg and Ashley. Yet, the days of Ashley creating and producing all the ice cream (while opening and running the front of the store) were at an end. With the help of the Hopsters and first managers, Jess and Gretchen, they were able to formulate a rudimentary structure behind the scenes, and Ashley formalized ice cream recipe cards so that others could be brought in to help.
Inevitably, and with trial and error, The Hop began to grow and evolve; with an awareness of the many ways that they could consciously and thoughtfully improve.
They switched to compostable materials. Ashley started creating recipes for toppings previously purchased, so that homemade didn’t just mean the ice cream anymore. She hired folks to help with making ice cream. New staff brought their own creative ideas and thoughts into the process.
The Hop’s Blueberry Kale Ice Cream
Photo by Micah Mackenzie
The partnerships with other local businesses expanded as well - sourcing fruits and vegetables from local farms, adding raw honey from native bees, and incorporating all sorts of locally made products.
In 2013, The Hop was featured on a Cooking Channel program called “Unique Sweets”. Soon, The Hop made the round on popular summer time lists and articles. The Huffington Post named it “One of the 12 best ice cream shops in America”. VegNews gave The Hop a Vegan Ice Cream Shout in “8 Outrageous Vegan Scoops at Ice Cream Shops Nationwide”. View Press Page »
The ever-fresh and truly delightful Blueberry Kale Ice Cream made Saveur Magazine’s “5 Great American Ice Creams” and was North Carolina’s featured flavor in “Scoop Adventures: The Best Ice Cream of the 50 States”.
With all the press, The Hop became a must-do for tourists who fancied a frozen treat. As a result, space became a premium. Chest freezers lined hallways. (One even graced the front porch of the Garrisons house for a summer.) “Christopher Walk-in” was installed, yet even his roomy interior was soon pushed to the max.
It was time to expand.