Denmark's Paradis Thrives in Montrose

Nestled quietly between the and , you'll find a red and white "paradise" decked out with Skandinavian dining furniture, where some of Denmark's finest have established their delicious up-and-coming Danish ice cream chain, .

So how does a trio of Danes come to open an ice cream franchise on the outskirts of Los Angeles? Well, Mark Pedersen, his sister Mia, and Mia's boyfriend Morten Thorup love Paradis ice cream, for starters. Having travelled extensively in California and loving it, they put two and two together and called up the Paradis company (based in native Denmark) to see about opening a location in the U.S.

The first answer they got was a resounding "nej” (no!). The company wasn’t convinced the trio could pull it off, and besides, they had plans to expand in to neighbouring Sweden and Germany before America. But Mark, Mia and Morten didn’t give up and created a presentation, highlighting their retail strengths and experience (Morten, for example, owned his own clothing store for several years, Mark has a lot of retail experience, and Mia was in advertising sales for online ventures).

They managed to convince the Paradis, and in the summer of 2009, Paradis Ice Cream opened its doors in Montrose. When the trio looked into Montrose after a friend suggested it as a location, they all immediately fell in love with the town. Upon obtaining E-2 investors visas, they were able to immigrate and invest their start-up money. As for ice cream making, a tutor from the parent company in Denmark came to Montrose and gave them a 14-day crash course in running a Paradis franchise, including 12 days of ice cream maker’s training.

Ice cream-making at Paradis involves flavors shipped in from Denmark for varieties such as hazelnut, and also lots of fresh local fruit; every Sunday, the the dedicated ownders hit the Montrose Harvest Market to load up on fresh fruit. Every day, they make 18 batches of ice cream, choosing from over 200 recipes, guided largely by customer requests (to make your own request, you can do so on their facebook page). Among the customers’ favorite flavors are hazelnut, cappucino, strawberry, chocolate, and Ferrero Rocher. Ice cream is made fresh daily, and any leftovers at the end of the day are kindly donated to local fire fighters and a children’s hospital.

Currently, they are working on their expansion plans. Mark explains that, although their dream is “to open 100 paradise stores”, they are taking it slow and are expanding one shop at a time. This Sunday April 17, their shop in Los Feliz opens at 1726 N. Vermont, which means they’ll have to start making ice cream at 4 a.m. in order to ensure they have enough ice cream for both stores (which open at noon). On April 30, they will host a grand opening party at the Los Feliz where they will be free ice cream for all!

Paradis is located at 2323 Honolulu Ave.Visit the Paradis site here.