Gifford’s Ice Cream is closing one of its oldest ice cream shops, partly due to challenges caused by flood damage.
The Farmington stand, located at 293 Main St., was opened in 1982, just two years after Gifford’s had established its first stand in Skowhegan.
In a Facebook post, Gifford’s Ice Cream said that the impacts of flooding from 2023 storms, as well as the challenge of restarting operations at its factory that was damaged in a February 2023 fire, influenced the decision to close the stand permanently.
“We explored every possible option, but after many months of deliberation, our family made the heartbreaking decision to close the stand after 42 wonderful years,” the post reads.
Gifford’s Ice Cream was able to restart operations at its Skowhegan plant in February of 2024, after the accidental fire in 2023 caused substantial damage and pushed some production out of state to meet demand.
Several bouts of storms in December 2023 caused extensive damage to communities across the state, with widespread flood damage that took some towns months to clean up.