Wildly Popular Brooklyn-Based Ice Cream Maker Ample Hills Files for Bankruptcy

So popular lines wrap around the block at their Gowanus location on nice summer days, ice cream maker Ample Hills filed Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of New York Sunday.

The move has nothing to do with coronavirus or lack of demand for their product, which features lots of mix-ins, such as chocolate-dipped saltines in Salted Crack’d Caramel, a flavor that fueled their early success. Court filings cite delays and cost overruns related to building out their Red Hook factory, which opened in 2018, according to The Real Deal.

The company has 16 locations in the U.S., including six in Brooklyn. It shuttered a Los Felix location, in Los Angeles, in January.

Chapter 11 protection will allow the company to “restructure and refocus,” the firm said in a prepared statement cited by Brownstoner sister pub Brooklyn Paper.

A source close to the company told Brownstoner costs such as licensing agreements with Disney may have hurt Ample Hills also. Earlier this month, two sources told Brownstoner the company does not yet know if they will be forced to close more stores. The original Prospect Heights location is likely to keep going, one of them said.

Another popular Brooklyn ice maker, Greenpoint-based Van Leeuwen, announced last month it has raised $18.7 million and would expand, Eater reported at the time.

For now, Ample Hills is following safety guidelines and remains open for takeout, the Red Hook-based company said.

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