In a city where ice cream is practically a summer food group, Cold Comfort is trading history for horsepower.
The beloved local staple is undergoing a major transition – one that reflects both its growth and the changing shape of Victoria’s dessert scene. After more than a decade at its North Park Street home base, Cold Comfort is preparing to move on.
Founder Autumn Maxwell, who started the business in her home kitchen in 2010 and moved into the North Park storefront in 2013, says it’s simply time for something new.
“Our walk-in freezer is quite small,” Maxwell says. “For the amount of local stores we’re supplying, the events we’re doing, and keeping our own shops stocked, we just can’t get far enough ahead. We need more space.”
With the lease up this Halloween, Cold Comfort will keep scooping at its original location until Oct. 1, 2025 – but is already preparing to shift much of its production into a newly secured space in Rock Bay.
The new facility – zoned for manufacturing – is expected to become the brand’s production hub by Christmas.
A small storefront might open at the new site, though most scoop service will move to Cold Comfort’s newer Cook Street Village location (200 Cook St.), which opened earlier this year.
“It was just kind of meant to be,” Maxwell says of the Cook Street spot, which she noticed during regular dog walks near Beacon Hill Park. “It fell into place really easily, and I thought if we were moving out of North Park, we’d need a continuous retail spot for people.”
But the decision to leave North Park wasn’t just logistical.
While Maxwell didn’t want to fully detail the circumstances, she noted ongoing safety and social challenges outside the shop.
“There are some social issues downtown that a lot of businesses are suffering from – and we’re not excluded from that,” she says. “This parking lot seems to be kind of an attraction, and I feel like I’ve had to deal with a lot of those issues myself.”
Still, Maxwell remains focused on creating a welcoming space and giving back to the community – whether that’s through paying living wages or keeping her ice cream handmade and high quality.
Cold Comfort isn’t alone in the local, small-batch ice cream world.
Parachute opened its fourth location in April, expanding into Oak Bay (2548 Windsor Rd.).
49 Below recently added its third shop in Fernwood Square (Gladstone Ave. and Fernwood Rd.).
And Kid Sister is making its return to brick-and-mortar retail with a new Esquimalt storefront (1320 Esquimalt Rd.) after closing its Fan Tan Alley location in 2021.
“Soon you’ll be able to visit us for ice cream scoops, vegan sorbet, and our delicious pops,” Kid Sister said in a social media post. “We’re so excited to be part of this vibrant community and to honour the legacy of the original Kid Sister shops.”
Even with all the churn, Maxwell doesn’t see the city’s frozen treat boom as overcrowded.
“There seems to be enough space for all of us to exist,” she says. “Ice cream brings people together. It’s nostalgic – it hits emotional notes – and it’s a gathering place. Going for ice cream is like going for a coffee or a beer – it just makes people happy.”
While Cold Comfort may be leaving its original location, it plans to return to North Park in 2026 by teaming up with one of its business acquaintances to open a small outpost.
