For 18 years, Holly Hop Ice Cream Shoppe gave Lubbock a place to slide into a booth, drop a song on the jukebox and order a malt the way your grandparents did. That run is ending.
The 1950s-style shop at 3404 34th St. announced on social media late Friday, Nov. 6, that it is closing. According to EverythingLubbock’s Nov. 7 report by Kenna Billings, its last day of operation is Sunday, Nov. 8, with final hours from 1 to 3 p.m. Guests can stop by for a final treat, say goodbye and enjoy discounted ice cream. The shop’s antiques and decor will also be available for purchase.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share that, after 18 years, Holly Hop Ice Cream Shoppe is closing its doors. This was not an easy decision, and everything has happened so rapidly. Through it all, we are tremendously grateful to everyone who has been part of the Holly Hop story. The only phrase that can begin to capture what we want to say is ‘thank you,'” Holly Hop said in its social media statement. The owners have not said publicly why they’re closing.
A mom-and-pop malt shop
Darryl Holland opened Holly Hop in 2008 and moved it to its current home in 2010, the A-J reported. In a 2020 profile in Lubbock Senior Link magazine, he and his wife, Stephanie, described the shop in the Indiana Gardens North shopping center as a family-run soda fountain built around ice cream made in-house and a retro food menu.
The menu went well beyond cones. The profile listed dozens of seasonal flavors, many of them Holly Hop originals; throwback sodas sold by the bottle or in custom six-packs; sandwiches like the BLT, pimento cheese and club; salads, pizza, chili dogs and a soup of the day; and pints, quarts, ice cream cakes and pies to take home.
Its back room became a community living room. The Hollands said the party room hosted birthdays, wedding and baby showers and weekly game groups playing bridge, dominoes, mahjong and bunko. Summer sock hops and school field trips were regulars on the calendar.
“We love seeing our older patrons looking at the décor and remembering their early days – and young ones discovering what hand-made soda, a classic malt and music on the jukebox is all about,” Stephanie Holland said in the profile. Darryl Holland called the shop “an escape… a way to turn back the clock.”
The employee who bought the place
Wesley Trook started scooping at Holly Hop in May 2020, just before he graduated from Lubbock High School, KCBD reported in 2022. He wanted a fun job to bridge high school and college. Instead, he ended up owning it.
Trook bought the shop in November 2021, when he was a Texas Tech student. He told KCBD it took time to convince the founders to sell. One thing that helped: when both previous owners got COVID, he ran the shop by himself. What mattered most to them, he said, was keeping the place the same, and he promised to keep the classic 1950s look while modernizing things behind the counter like payroll, scheduling and training. By May 2022, KCBD reported, sales were up 140% since January.
In the farewell post, quoted by the A-J, Trook wrote that the shop had been part of “so many chapters” of his life. During his time there, he graduated from high school, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Tech, married Elizabet and became a dad to Charlie. “Saying goodbye to a place so woven into our family’s story is incredibly difficult, and we are grateful to everyone who has been part of it,” he wrote.
What it meant to Lubbock
The A-J reported that the late-night announcement drew a flood of shared memories online. The shop’s own goodbye said it best:
“Thank you for making us part of your birthdays, your first dates, your family traditions, and your ordinary afternoons that needed something sweet,” Holly Hop wrote. “Thank you for bringing your children and grandchildren, for telling your friends about us, and for coming back time and time again.”
If Holly Hop was part of your story, a first date or a birthday or a Sunday after church, today is the day to stop by.
If you go
- When: Sunday, Nov. 8, 1 to 3 p.m., according to EverythingLubbock.
- Where: 3404 34th St., Lubbock.
- What: Discounted ice cream and antiques and decor for sale, according to EverythingLubbock.
- Phone: 806-792-2756, as listed on the shop website.
Sources
- KCBD, Nov. 7, 2026 (closing, final hours): https://www.kcbd.com/2026/11/07/holly-hop-ice-cream-shoppe-closing-its-doors-after-18-years/
- Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Nov. 7, 2026 (history, owner and farewell quotes; read via search excerpt): https://www.lubbockonline.com/story/business/2026/11/07/holly-hop-ice-cream-shoppe-lubbock-closing-heres-when/92657635007/
- EverythingLubbock, Kenna Billings, Nov. 7, 2026 (final day, hours, discounts, antiques and decor sale): https://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/local-news/holly-hop-ice-cream-shoppe-closes-after-18-years/
- Holly Hop Ice Cream Shoppe closing statement, social media, Nov. 6, 2026 (full statement)
- Daily Lubbock, Nov. 8, 2026 edition: https://dailylubbock.com/local-news/editions/11-08-2026
- KCBD, Patricia Perry, May 18, 2022 (Trook purchase): https://www.kcbd.com/2022/05/18/20-year-old-buys-holly-hop-ice-cream-shoppe/
- Lubbock Senior Link, Winter 2020, p. 10 (Holland profile): https://lubbockseniorlink.com/magazine/2020-04/files/basic-html/page10.html
- Holly Hop Ice Cream Shoppe website: https://www.hollyhoplbk.org/
