The new owner of Charlotte area Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shops – including the downtown Davidson location – is looking to add stores and trying new ideas to keep his stores busy. At the shop on Main Street, that means serving gourmet coffee and free WI-FI along with ice cream.
Charles Durham (photo), who had an 18-year career as a 
Bank of America software developer, bought most of the local Ben & Jerry’s franchise stores from Phyllis Schultz in September 2007 in a big career change.
“I decided to find a new opportunity after that many years (at the bank),” Mr. Durham said one recent afternoon in the Davidson store. “I was frustrated. My career had plateaued. I decided to find something new. I didn’t know what it was going to be.”
It turned out to be the ice cream chain he has loved for 20 years.
Since taking over the stores, the Cornelius resident has been sprucing up the shops and scouting for new locations to expand. In Davidson, he has added free wireless internet access and Seattle’s Best coffees. A new coat of paint, in Ben & Jerry’s new colors, is in the store’s near future, he said. “And our four new flavors are coming in February,” he said.
Just before Mr. Durham bought the stores, Ms. Schultz closed her Cornelius location. Mr. Durham said he has an agreement to open several more stores in the next few years, at a rate of about one per year. A first priority will be to find another location in the Charlotte area – possibly in Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood.
Mr. Durham said he’s committed to continuing the Davidson store’s tradition of participating in community events. “We want to figure out a way to make it even better,” he said.
