Almost 13 years after opening Palmer Lane Maple in Jericho, founders Colleen and Paul Palmer sold their multifaceted maple biz — including its popular creemee stand — to Dan and Jessica Phelan of Williston on July 1.
Since then, Dan has joined the Palmers, the shop’s managers and the staff of 12 to learn the ropes. No changes are slated for the summer season, other than the usual rotating weekly creemee flavors and Nor’Easter combos.
Dan recently completed 23 years as general manager of the Windjammer Restaurant and Upper Deck Pub in South Burlington. He hopes to use that hospitality background to uphold the high standards the Palmers have set for customer service and product quality, he said.
His first cracks at the creemee machine “weren’t ideal,” Dan admitted, chuckling. “But I have high standards, as well.”
Colleen and Paul started Palmer Lane Maple as a wholesale candy operation in Jeffersonville in 2008; in November 2012, they opened the shop in Jericho to sell their own products and “showcase maple as an industry,” Colleen said.
Creemees weren’t part of their original plan, but customers kept asking about them — even in December.
“Paul went from saying ‘no’ to ‘maybe’ to ‘definitely,'” Colleen said.
By Maple Open House Weekend in March 2013, the couple had a creemee machine — bought on Craigslist — and a single flavor. “If you didn’t like maple, sorry,” Colleen added with a laugh.
Since then, they’ve added multiple machines, flavors and toppings and even two creemee trucks, which travel around the state to cater events such as weddings, graduations and celebrations of life. The Palmers’ daughters, now 20 and 23, grew up in the business, which has become a hub for the Chittenden County town.
One of those catering jobs in spring 2024 was the catalyst for the sale, which happened “pretty off the cuff,” Paul said. When friends of the Phelans came up and told him how much they loved the truck, “I said, ‘It could be yours,'” he recalled. “I’ve got that mindset where anything’s for sale for the right price.”
Those friends weren’t interested, but they thought Dan and Jessica might be. The Phelans met with the Palmers, and over the past year, the topic of their discussions morphed from selling just the trucks to selling the entire business, including the creemee window, retail store, wholesale and e-commerce.
“It’s an institution where people meet and have a treat and connect — a real ‘third place,’ like the Windjammer,” Jessica said, noting that she and Dan look forward to involving their two children in the business.
The sale is “bittersweet,” Colleen said, but the Palmers will continue to supply the biz with maple syrup from their Jeffersonville sugarbush. While Paul and Dan have discussed growth opportunities for the future, right now, it’s “business as usual.”
“Then,” Dan continued, “we can only aspire to the success the Palmers have achieved.”