Inside McKenzie's 'Coolest' New Dessert Destination

McKENZIE — What started with buying an Italian ice machine for his tiny home has turned into what might be Shane Yarbrough's biggest business venture yet. Yarbrough, a Gleason native, held a grand opening celebration for Italian Ice & Froyo Co. on Saturday, August 1 — but to the people of McKenzie, the dessert shop had already become a part of the city's allure.

When Yarbrough held a soft opening for Italian Ice & Froyo Co. in early July, he never could have expected how quickly his business would take off. In less than a month, the dessert shop has become a huge financial asset to the city of McKenzie, with shoppers coming from as far as Nashville to try Yarbrough's Italian ice and frozen yogurt.

Yarbrough began making Italian ice in 2022, selling it from his food trailer business, The Snack Shack. In addition to Italian ice, he also sold funnel cakes, fried Oreos, fried Twinkies, cotton candy, hot dogs and the like before eventually closing the food trailer.

Acknowledging his personal dairy allergy, Yarbrough said he wanted to be able to accommodate other people's dietary restrictions.

Yarbrough bought an Italian ice machine for his tiny home at the beginning of the year, wanting to begin making the dessert again. He then moved into the suite at 16214 Highland Drive, McKenzie, wanting to begin selling Italian ice in his free time.

At the recommendation of a friend, he began toying with frozen yogurt recipes.

"I didn't even know what frozen yogurt was a month before we opened," Yarbrough said. "A friend of mine — her name is Anna — brought it up to me, and I was like, 'What is fro yo?' She helped me, in the beginning, get the recipe and master it."

Still new to the frozen yogurt scene, Yarbrough said he has made some tweaks to his original recipe, swapping from a Greek yogurt base to a vanilla yogurt base for some of the froyo options. Due to his dairy allergy, Yarbrough is unable to do more than taste test the frozen yogurt flavors he sells. However, he said his employees do enough tasting to ensure they are of good quality.

Italian Ice & Froyo Co. has put McKenzie on the map as one of two destinations within a 30-mile radius to sell frozen yogurt, joining Daydream Yogurt in Martin.

Wanting his store to be an interactive, personal experience, Yarbrough encourages his customers to write their names on a wall to let everyone know that they visited. In less than a month, over a third of the wall is already filled with names.

"I'm just speechless as far as how that wall filled up," Yarbrough said. "And everybody has noticed. When I post pictures on Facebook, people are looking at the background, at the wall."

He has had visitors from Nashville and from out-of-state come in to try his Italian ice and frozen yogurt. Several business owners have even contacted him, he said, asking if he was interested in franchising his business out.

For now, Yarbrough is staying focused on building Italian Ice & Froyo Co. in McKenzie, imagining what it could become in the coming months. He teased adding homemade lemonade and, in the winter, adding hot drinks like coffee and hot chocolate. He also mentioned potentially changing his hours, wanting to stay open a bit later.

During the grand opening celebration, McKenzie Mayor Ryan Griffin spoke of how big of an asset Italian Ice & Froyo Co. has become to the city.

"We're already having an economic impact from other counties," Griffin said. "Yarbrough's had folks that drove from Bells and Nashville just to visit him…This is a great asset for a family to just come and enjoy a time in McKenzie."

Italian Ice & Froyo Co. is the latest of Yarbrough's businesses ventures — and the first business he has registered in Tennessee. He also owns FunTimez Rentals, Nex Rentals in Atlanta, Elevare Enterprises, Inc. and Nex Level Financial. He is the Herbalife distributor to eight nutrition stores, and he also works as executive director of Legal Shield in McKenzie. He is also the former owner of two nutrition stores in Paducah.

"It seems like I've opened businesses everywhere else but home," Yarbrough said. "Now, I can give back to the community where I came from. I wish I would have done it sooner."

Saturday's celebration began with a ribbon cutting with the McKenzie Chamber of Commerce and continued until 5 p.m., with inflatable games, face painting and a petting zoo drawing in new customers.

Italian Ice & Froyo Co. is located at 16214 Highland Drive and is open Wednesday–Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday: 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.