Historic Mary Coyle Ol' Fashion ice cream shop has closed after 73 years. What we know

Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this article gave incorrect information about the most recent owner of Mary Coyle Ol' Fashion Ice Cream parlor as well as when it closed.

The Mary Coyle Ol’ Fashion Ice Cream parlor, home to 16% butterfat ice cream, has closed permanently after 73 years in the Valley.

Mary Coyle Ol’ Fashion Ice Cream began serving house-made ice cream in 1951 when its namesake owner moved to Arizona from Ohio and brought her ice cream recipes with her. From flavors like banana to black licorice, cookie in a cup and all the showboats, like The Turtle "and the Hare" made with butter pecan ice cream, hot fudge, caramel and crushed pecans, fans loved the ice cream so much that when the shop was on the brink of closure in 2011, a regular customer, Mike Stoffey, purchased it.

Since then, the historic shop changed hands several times and the location on Seventh Street and Bethany Home Road closed in April 2019 and the business moved to a 1,200-square-foot space at Tapestry on Central Avenue. The latest owner, Howard Kunkle purchased the ice cream shop in 2019 and continued serving ice cream made with Mary Coyle's recipes until the shop closed quietly late last year.

Earlier this year, a note on the door announced: "Landlord of the premises has initiated a lockout of the tenant for default under the lease agreement." As of March 6, the shop was empty, with a Clear Commercial sign listing it as available.

The Republic was unable to reach owner Howard Kunkle for comment.

'End of an era': Metro Phoenix's family-owned Mexican eatery to close after 44 years

Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix ice cream shop Mary Coyle has closed after more than 70 years