MacDoherty’s Ice Cream
Mike Mackell and Billy Doherty opened the first MacDoherty’s Ice Cream Shop in 1980 while they were still students at Concordia University. With the recent closure of the iconic Elmhurst Dairy ice cream shop on nearby St-Jacques, the duo set out to fill the void in the NDG ice cream market. Without a penny to their name, Mackell and Doherty somehow managed to sign a one-year lease on a retail space across the street from their apartment and set about renovating this original location at 6707 Sherbrooke W, an address Billy ruefully forgot to include in their grand opening announcement with the local paper.
Just steps from the Loyola Campus, MacDoherty’s became popular with students and professors alike. Mike and Billy were even invited to speak in a first-year marketing course, though their unconventional business practices – which included keeping money in bags – did not see them invited back. After some initial success, the pair opened up a second location in Côte Saint-Luc, followed by a third in Westmount, where this particular sign was recovered from the Claremont location at 5026 Sherbrooke St W. During their peak, MacDoherty’s eventually grew to as many as 10 locations in and around Montreal.
Mike and Billy’s professional relationship started to go sideways in the late 80’s, resulting in Mike’s departure from the business. Billy continued to run the business until 1993 when some financial speedbumps and a fading passion led him to walk away from ice cream and pursue hockey coaching out west, spelling the end for MacDoherty’s 13-year run. [Chrys Vilvang]