Steve's Ice Cream was an ice cream brand which began as an ice-cream parlor chain owned by Steve Herrell. He opened his first establishment at 191 Elm Street in Somerville, Massachusetts in 1973. Known as the Original Steve's Ice Cream, the business introduced the concept of super-premium ice cream and customized ice cream desserts using the mix-in. History Herrell graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1967 with a degree in sociology. In 1973, he mechanically altered a small-batch commercial freezer to produce an extraordinarily rich, creamy, low-air ice cream, and he founded Steve's Ice Cream to sell the new ice cream at his store. Herrell was introduced to the Heath Bar candy bar by a friend in the late 1960s, and felt it would make an excellent addition to his ice cream. Instead of having pre-mixed flavors like chocolate chip at his store, he had his staff mix freshly made ice cream with candy or other confections based upon customer requests. These candy additions were called "smoosh-ins," and the custom-blended flavors proved to be a success with customers. In 1975, Steve's charged $.35 and $.55 for cones, with an additional $.10 for each "smoosh-in" of M&M's, Heath bars and others. A fruit smoosh-in was another $.10. While waiting in line, customers could pay a dime to rent a piano roll for the store's player piano which Steve had rebuilt. In 1977, Herrell sold his company for $80,000 to Joe Crugnale, the future founder of the Bertucci's restaurant chain. The company was again sold in 1983. For several years the chain was co-located with the D'Angelo sub chain until D'Angelo was purchased by Yum! Brands in 1993, and Steve's franchises were replaced by Pizza Hut. Steve’s began selling pre-packaged ice cream in various grocery stores, which caused friction with franchise owners and Steve’s corporate office in the late 1980s. Franchise owners felt they were being undercut by making the Steve's brand available in grocery stores. Additionally, they argued that the sale of prepackaged ice cream bearing the “Steve’s” name was inconsistent with the concept that Steve’s was a premium, handmade ice cream. Some franchise owners refused to continue paying franchise fees. A number of franchisees were forced to go out of business, which likely contributed to the company’s demise, and the company closed in the late 1990s. In 1980, Herrell opened up a new ice cream business,