Lulu’s Ice Cream Social coming to The Clove in Buffalo Grove

A new ice cream shop with a local flavor is headed to Buffalo Grove’s The Clove.

Lulu’s Ice Cream Social is the brainchild of village resident Beth Kampner.

Kampner had been selling her homemade ice cream creations for delivery. But she now plans to occupy two of the retail spaces with a total of 1,800 square feet on the first floor of the apartment building at The Clove.

Located near McHenry and Lake-Cook roads, The Clove is the gradually unfolding redevelopment of the Town Center shopping mall.

The center’s developers and Kampner are working out the details of the lease. The target date for opening is spring 2025.

“We’re just finalizing a couple things right now,” she said.

Chain restaurants Guzman y Gomez, Panda Express and Chick-fil-A have recently opened at the Clove. But Lulu’s Ice Cream Social is the first local new business.

“I really want it to be about the community, where people can come and hang out and chat with their neighbors and meet new neighbors and just enjoy life in Buffalo Grove,” said Kampner, who lives on the Lake County side of Buffalo Grove.

Kampner’s background is in the nonprofit world. She has been doing technical consulting as a project manager for websites.

She said the seed for her ice cream business was planted when she attended a class focusing on changing careers.

“It was a monthlong class, and they really forced me to think about what I wanted to do,” she said.

One of the stretch goals was opening an ice cream shop. As it turned out, she had a friend in Michigan who quit her tech job to run an ice cream shop about a decade ago.

“The first time I went in there, I knew that was what I wanted to do,” she said.

Lulu’s promises to be a hands-on operation for Kampner. She plans to be on site to greet customers and wants to emphasize the social as much as the ice cream.

“It’s my creation,” she said. “We’re going to be making the ice cream ourselves in the shop.”

There will be two picture windows where people can watch the ice cream as it’s made.

“They’ll get to see the fresh strawberries go in,” she said.

Those within 10 miles of Buffalo Grove don’t have to wait for the store’s opening to sample the ice cream. Lulu’s Ice Cream Social’s online store offers flavors such as black cherry, chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate fudge, espresso caramel chip, sea salt butter cake, strawberry and blueberry cheesecake for local delivery.