Ice Cream Chain Inks Illinois Plans

Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream has signed its first multiunit agreement in Illinois and the Chicagoland area, with the first location set to open in late 2027.

The new parlors will be developed in the Chicago suburbs of Elgin, Geneva/St. Charles and Algonquin under franchisee Castro Rafeedie. Rafeedie grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, where Handel’s was founded in 1945, and owned a pizzeria in Dublin, Ohio, for nearly 12 years.

“Bringing our hometown brand to Illinois and being the first Handel’s franchisee in the state is such a special feeling,” Rafeedie says in a press release. “We looked at other concepts where everything was made in a central facility and shipped in, and that just didn’t appeal to us. Knowing that Handel’s still makes the ice cream on premise was a huge differentiator and really the moment where we knew this was something special. We believe in the brand, we trust the brand and we genuinely love it as a family.”

Beyond Illinois, Handel’s has signed 20 new franchise agreements in 2026 spanning seven states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas.