How Sweet It Is!

Fred and Diane Clason have been familiar faces in town since opening Sweet Claude’s Ice Cream Parlor in 1988.  Although they were not sure at first what type of business they wanted to open, after 24 years in business, the Clasons have found a sweet spot in the hearts of customers.

Before starting their business on South Main Street, Diane Clason worked as a special education teacher in New Haven, and Fred Clason worked in food services at Stamford Hospital. Despite their steady jobs, they decided to take a risk and start their own business. 

The Clasons moved to Cheshire in 1978 and always had an interest in the building on the hill where Sweet Claude’s has now operated for more than two decades. When a friend told them the former owners, Galt Toy Company, were selling the building, the Clasons jumped at chance to buy it.

“At first, we were debating if it should be a deli, but we ultimately decided on ice cream because of the size of the building and the big porch area outside,”  said Diane Clason. 

So, how did Sweet Claude’s get its name since no one in the family is named Claude?  It's the name of a book that Fred Clason found in his fraternity house at the University of Connecticut. 

“One day Fred found an old book in his fraternity house called Murder at Sweet Claude’s, and the house on the cover of the book looked just like the house our business is in, so every time we drove by it, we would say 'there’s the Sweet Claude’s house,'" said Clason.  A picture of the house that inspired Sweet Claude’s name is hanging on the wall inside the store.

Owning a small business in today’s economy can be challenging, but Clason thinks she knows why Sweet Claude’s has been a success for so many years. 

“I think the biggest key to our success is that everything is home made.  Even our brownies in the ice cream are all home made,” she said.

Customers like the atmosphere and the unique homemade flavors. “Personally, my favorite flavor is Smurf, I just can’t get enough of it,” said Jeremy Owings, of North Haven.

Clason said that "Smurf" is one of the store's most popular flavors. It is a blue-colored raspberry flavored ice cream with marshmallows in it. 

“On the days that the Little Leaguers come in after their games, we often sell out of "Smurf" before all of the kids get theirs!  That’s how popular it is,” said Clason.

Sweet Claude’s has also been good about giving back to the community over the years. They help sponsor Cheshire High School sports teams and and have often supplied the ice cream for the high school's overnight graduation party. The store also sponsors a Cheshire Little League team each year, and supports charities such as the United Way, Muscular Dystrophy Association, and various local food banks. 

The Clason’s have also given jobs to Cheshire teenagers for nearly a quarter century. 

“I love working here because it is a small business so it feels like one big family, and it is always a friendly environment,” said Christina Toth, a Cheshire resident who has been a Sweet Claude’s employee for five years.

Toth starting working at Sweet Claude’s when she was 16 and she now returns each summer after her classes end at the University of Texas. 

In January and February, Sweet Claude’s closes so the Clasons can take step away from the responsibilities of being small business owners.

“We spend January at our home in Arizona, and February in the Bahamas.  We need a break from the cold weather and ice cream,”  said Clason. 

She is hopeful their son, Matt, will eventually take over the family business. 

“He has been involved in the business in some way since he was 12, and we are hopeful that when the day comes where we no longer want to do this anymore, that he will take over for us,” said Clason.