Glen’s to expand production of frozen custard in Lower Burrell

Proving that frozen custard might be a form of eternal bliss, the fourth-generation owner of Glen’s Custard is buying a Lower Burrell building to ramp up production of its novel frozen delicacies.

Glen’s will close soon on a building along Leechburg Road that will serve as its production and storage “dessert hub,” situated between Glen’s stores in Lower Burrell and Springdale, said owner Eli Wilson, 35. Wilson did not reveal what building he intends to buy.

Glen’s first opened in 1948 in Cheswick and moved to Springdale in 1959. The Lower Burrell location opened in 2010, which was expanded with a restaurant, GC Grill, in 2016.

Business continues to be sweet for Glen’s, which sells its frozen custard to stores and restaurants from Washington, Pa., to north of Kittanning, to Slippery Rock. The most popular product is the frozen custard sold in pints at Giant Eagle, Shop ’n Save, Community Market and elsewhere.

Success for Glen’s seems to come from niche and longevity. People can make ice cream, but they can’t easily make the frozen custard, which is richer than ice cream. Glen’s uses high-quality cream and whole eggs instead of just the egg whites used in ice cream.

Glen’s recipe, developed by owner Eli Wilson’s great-grandfather and refined by subsequent generations, uses proprietary methods and is as much a secret as Col. Sanders’ fried chicken.

“Having our own recipe sets us apart,” Wilson said.

He said Glen’s needs more production space to make specialty items and to better support current production.

“Nobody does a frozen custard cake but us,” Wilson said. The popular frozen dessert features layers of homemade cake and the customer’s choice of custard. Wilson needs more space to produce more of them as well as homemade pies. Then there are the cookies.

“We want to expand our bake lines,” Wilson said. “Last fall, we did pies that we sold out of our stores, distributed to restaurants and other locations, and it’s been going well.”

Wilson looked for potential buildings in the area. “Lower Burrell is a nice family area and perfectly located near our stores,” Wilson said.

The new site, expected to be operational by the end of the year, would create several new positions, he said.

City officials were happy to hear of Glen’s next move as they plan to mount an effort to attract new businesses to the city.

“When I first learned about the expansion plans of Glen’s, I was very excited for both them and our city,” Councilman Chris Fabry said. “It’s great to hear that they felt Lower Burrell was the right place for an additional location.”