In Glen Carbon, Illinois, some anniversaries do not arrive with speeches and ribbon-cutting scissors. They arrive with cones, hot dogs, drive-thru lines, and people who remember being kids when their parents first brought them there.
That is the kind of milestone Annie’s Frozen Custard is marking this month.
The family-owned frozen custard shop is marking 30 years in business on Saturday, June 27, with an “Annie-versary” event at its Glen Carbon location on Illini Drive. Thirty years shows survival in an industry with changing tastes, rising costs, and strong competition.
For Annie’s, the story began with a simple local problem: Edwardsville needed an ice cream shop.
A local shop built from a family idea
Annie’s Frozen Custard was founded in 1996 by Kay Gieszelmann, whose family loved frozen custard and saw an opening after another frozen dessert shop in Edwardsville closed.The family committed to the business, studying frozen custard traditions such as the Milwaukee-style pairing of custard and hot dogs. This approach made Annie’s a place where customers could order a Chicago-style hot dog and finish with a concrete, shake, float, sundae, or cone.
The name also kept the business personal. Annie’s was drawn from family middle names, connecting Kay and her daughter Emily Gieszelmann to the brand from the beginning. Emily, who was a child when the shop opened, now helps run daily operations.
That passing of the baton matters. Many longtime local businesses struggle when the next generation does not want the work, the hours, or the pressure. Annie’s has managed to keep its family identity while adapting to a restaurant world different from the one it entered in the 1990s.
Why this anniversary matters in Glen Carbon
The 30th anniversary celebration is scheduled for June 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the Glen Carbon shop. The event includes giveaways, anniversary specials, and buy-one-get-one offers on Dubai sundaes and concretes. Petaled Pail & Co., another local business, is also expected to be on-site selling flowers for part of the day.
The event highlights Annie’s longevity and support from other local businesses.
In a region like the Metro East, where Edwardsville and Glen Carbon have grown and changed over three decades, a place like Annie’s becomes part of the map people carry in their heads. Families remember after-school stops.
Former employees remember their first jobs. Parents remember the drive-thru saving dinner on a busy night. Customers remember their favorite weekly flavors.
A chain can sell a product. A longtime local shop sells memory.
The drive-thru that helped the business endure
Annie’s began in Edwardsville, but the Glen Carbon location became an important part of its growth. The move gave the shop a drive-thru, more space, and a year-round presence.That decision became especially important during the pandemic, when many restaurants had to rethink service overnight. For Annie’s, the drive-thru was not just convenient. It helped keep the business moving when indoor and walk-up habits changed.
That kind of detail is easy to miss in a sweet anniversary story, but it is central to why local businesses survive. Longevity often comes from small decisions made years before they look brilliant. A drive-thru. A second location. A menu that keeps the old favorites but makes room for new tastes. A staff culture strong enough to carry busy nights. Annie’s has done that without losing the hometown feeling that made people come back in the first place.
A menu that keeps changing without losing itself
Frozen custard can be a nostalgic food, but Annie’s has not relied on nostalgia alone.
The shop still serves classic custard bases such as vanilla, vanilla lite, chocolate, and butter pecan, along with rotating weekly flavors. Customers can build sundaes, floats, shakes, and concretes with candy, fruit, nuts, syrups, and other toppings.
The hot dog side of the menu also keeps the old-school feel alive, with Chicago-style options and customizable choices. That combination of custard and hot dogs gives the shop a throwback charm without feeling stuck in time.
At the same time, Annie’s has worked to keep up with current dessert trends. The anniversary promotion around Dubai sundaes and concretes shows how the shop is paying attention to what customers are talking about now. That balance is one reason the business has lasted: it understands that tradition works best when it still feels alive.
The human story behind the counter
One of the strongest parts of Annie’s story is not just the founder or the menu. It is the way the shop has become a workplace for generations of young employees.Local restaurants often become training grounds. Teenagers and college students learn how to handle customers, manage pressure, show up on time, work as part of a team, and keep smiling through a rush.
For many people, a place like Annie’s is their first real lesson in responsibility.Long-running local shops like Annie’s serve and shape their communities.Kay and Emily Gieszelmann have credited both customers and employees for the business’s staying power. That makes sense. A shop can have a great product, but the people behind the counter decide whether customers feel welcome enough to return.
A sweet milestone in a tough restaurant era
The restaurant business has never been easy, and 2026 is no exception. Food costs, labor pressures, rent, utilities, competition, and shifting customer habits continue to challenge independent operators across the country.
Annie’s 30-year milestone is significant because the shop continually adapted to challenges.
A local custard shop that filled a need now serves multiple generations. Every community has similar stories: a bakery that knows your order, a diner for families, a coffee shop as a meeting point, or a food truck that became a storefront.In Glen Carbon and Edwardsville, Annie’s has become that kind of place.
Thirty years, one community, and a lot of custard
The anniversary event on June 27 is framed as a thank-you to the community, and that is the right note. Annie’s did not last 30 years because frozen custard is rare. It lasted because people kept choosing it.
They chose it after games, after school, after work, after dinner, and on hot summer nights when dessert felt like the easiest way to make the day better.
For Kay Gieszelmann, the business began with a family craving and a local gap. For Emily Gieszelmann, it became a daily responsibility and a living family legacy. For customers across the Metro East, it became a familiar stop with a simple promise: something cold, creamy, and local waiting at the window.
Thirty years later, Annie’s Frozen Custard is celebrating its longevity.
It is also celebrating how many people made it part of their lives.
