Superior Dairy, the landmark Central Valley ice cream spot since 1929, is up for sale

Superior Dairy is a quintessential small-town business.

People throughout Central California know the Hanford ice cream shop by name because it’s been around with its pink-seated soda fountain, tin ceiling and infamously massive scoops and sundaes, for nearly a century.

Its customer base spans generations.

The place exists as much in nostalgic memory than in any current business climate, even though the dining room never reopened after the pandemic and the place has been existing solely on take-away orders.

On Friday, it was reported the 95-year-old family owned business has been put up for sale.

It is being listed for a price of $2.5 million.

It’s like a “unicorn ... coming on the market,” says Ryan Portugal, the real estate agent handling the sale for owner Tim Jones and his family.

In his pre-real estate days, Portugal worked at Superior Dairy. He was a manager there in the late 2000s. He spent the bulk of last Friday evening, from 4-10 p.m., fielding calls about the ice cream parlor.

“And it hasn’t been much much slower since.”

Superior Dairy, since 1929

Superior Dairy was opened by F. Judson Bowden in 1929 as a milk distributor that also made butter and buttermilk, cottage cheese, whipping cream and ice cream. It offered milk deliveries around Hanford until the 1970s. There was a second Superior Dairy restaurant in Lemoore in the 1960s. It operated until 1986, when Bowden’s son Jim Bowden retired.

The ice cream itself was made on site: 10 flavors in 10-gallon batches in the back of the shop from a recipe of cream and mix that was developed at UC Davis, according to one report at least.

It never changed and by the late 2000s, the creamery was cranking out 78,000 gallons a year. The ice cream ranked fourth in a 2022 Fresno Bee readers’ poll.

And, because people have been wanting to know and there have been rumors to the contrary: The ice cream is still made on-site, Portugal says.

Over the years, the restaurant became a popular spot for both regulars and visitors from out of town.

It was a selling point for Amtrak’s San Joaquin Line (a 30-minute ride from Fresno and walking distance from Hanford’s train station).

Singer/songwriter John Mellencamp visited the ice cream shop in 2004 when he was in town filming a video for his song “Walk Tall.” The building is clearly visible around the 40-second mark.

Susan Wing’s sudden death

The sale will mark the first time the business has not been in the Bowden family’s hands.

Its current owner is Bowden’s grandson. He had been running the business with his sister Susan Wing until her sudden death in 2017. Wing was hit by a car while running across the street to help a neighbor in a medical emergency.

Side note: Wing married into a Hanford restaurant dynasty. Her husband’s family opened a Chinese restaurant in Hanford in 1883 and were behind at least two popular spots —the Golden Pagoda and Imperial Dynasty.

Listed for $2.5 million

So, the family is looking for a specific kind of buyer; notably one interested in the legacy and tradition of Superior Dairy. The listing includes the name and business, and the 7,703-square-foot building that sits on the corner of Douty and 9th streets in the heart of Hanford’s downtown (adjacent to the Civic Center Park).

It also includes all the equipment and recipes needed to continue operations.

“Of primary consideration is a new owner will afford the chance to continue the Superior Dairy legacy and deliver the quality products that our great and loyal customers have come to know and expect since 1929,” owner Jones wrote in a statement announcing the sale.

“That,” Portugal adds, “would be our ideal buyer: someone that wants to carry on the tradition for another 95 years.”

There is no shortage of non ice cream related potential in the building, Portugal says. But with the interest he’s already seen in the sale, he can’t imagine the business not continuing.

“This is going to be a really great opportunity,” he says, remembering something former owner Susan Wing used to always say.

“Even in bad times, people love ice cream.”

This story was originally published October 8, 2024 at 1:28 PM.