SAUGUS — In 2016, Sharon and Paul Cacciola had no plans to own and operate their own family business. In 2026, they’re officially celebrating 10 years of owning Soc’s Ice Cream.
Located at 67 Lynn Fells Parkway, Soc’s, once known as Lynn Fells Dairy Bar, has been running since 1977 and remains a local favorite.
The Cacciola Family ended up buying the business when their son Stephen, who was working at Soc’s at the time, found out the current owner planned on selling it.
“He came home and said, ‘Let’s buy an ice cream shop,’ and I said, ‘What are you crazy? I’m not doing that.’ But we ended up thinking about it and buying it,” Sharon Cacciola said.
Sharon Cacciola also pointed out that owning the shop was a full-circle moment, as her friend and Soc’s general manager, Karen Venezia, joined her on the patio. She said that the pair had been best friends since they were kids and even got their first jobs together at the old Brigham’s in Saugus when they were around 14.
It took some time for the family to get their bearings, with Paul Cacciola still working as an electrical engineer and Sharon Cacciola working as a medical assistant, but they eventually found their groove.
“We had never run a business before, but here we are. And as a result, we just started growing the business and adding to it,” she said.
Sharon Cacciola added that they had added the patio, giving people a more comfortable place to enjoy their ice cream, and had redone the parking lot last year.
“I’m still planting flowers now and just making the place look nice and a place for people to relax,” she said.
Soc’s prides itself on making its own ice cream and is adding a brand-new upgrade to the mix with its new ice cream cart, which can be used for catering events.
“That’s our next step in the business… We’ll show up at events, and it’s really a whole other business. I told Paul we would need someone to load the cart into the truck and unload it. He goes, ‘Well, I’ll do that,’ and I said, ‘No, you’re not supposed to be doing that.’ But it just goes to show that we really are a family business,” Sharon Cacciola said.
She continued that the staff had become a part of their family, and when asked about favorite memories in the past 10 years, she highlighted getting to see staff members make achievements like graduating from high school or college, or using what they earned from the shop to reach a new milestone like purchasing a car.
