13/09/2026
WE HAVE SOME BIG NEWS…
This is something I hoped I would never have to write.
It is with the heaviest heart and deepest sadness that we are announcing the closure of the Rays Ice Cream Shop at 63 Devizes Road.
The shop opened in 2011 by the amazing Hadi and her family who founded the business, and has been serving thousands of ice creams every year ever since. It has been famous for the happy yellow exterior and the queues out the door all summer long.. and I know how much it has been loved and part of our community 💛
I want you all to know that it is absolutely nothing to do with how much ice cream we have sold - with the heat wave and the lovely warm summer we have had a great year in sales and sold tens of thousands of ice creams - but it just isn’t enough to cover the costs any more: the prices of everything has sky rocketed so much and so quickly that is just isn’t affordable to have a shop on the high street any more. I know I’m not alone in this, and small businesses all over the country are feeling the same.. I have put my heart and soul in to Rays and I am absolutely devastated that all that hard work has left me with no choice but to make this decision. I hope the government realises and start to support our local shops soon, or we face a derelict high street and I just can’t bare it 😭
The electricity alone is £10,000. (For a few freezers!???) The business rates this year have been £7,000. With the rent, cost of the ice cream ingredients, rise in staff wages, NI contributions, pensions and everything else.. the costs are too high, and we ever can’t ever sell an ice cream scoop for enough to cover them, because it just wouldn’t be fair on anyone. Being VAT registered this year with 20% of our sales going straight to the tax man has taken us over the edge to 0. There is nothing to claim back so any chance of making a profit is taken away before you even start.
These costs are completely and utterly out of my control. It doesn’t matter what we do to keep the bills down and sales high.. it just isn’t enough.
I have worked tirelessly for 2 years now trying to make it work.. l have a young family at home, and with all the stresses and strains on me it isn’t fair, and it can’t carry on, however much I love our little shop 💔
It breaks my heart.
HOWEVER… there is a small piece of good news in all of this.
I can’t bare the thought that our lovely customers can’t get an ice cream from old town. And luckily enough I do have another shop 20 seconds round the corner…
We have decided to build a mini Rays in GlamoRose!!! So we are still a part of the community. We still have a shop front. You can still get your favourite ice cream in Old Town. So we keep Rays alive.
I know it isn’t the same. I know it isn’t the beautiful yellow shop we all know and love. And it isn’t something I ever imagined I would do, but sometimes in life you have to make a choice.. and if it’s either lose Rays altogether or keep a little part of it in Old Town then I know what I choose 💛
GlamoRose is in a lovely location with the Lawns over the road. We have managed to secure Memorial benches through the park and bins ready for next summer, so that you can all eat your ice creams while enjoying the beautiful views. We will put tables and chairs outside… and do our best to recreate the magic that Rays has bought you all over the years.
This has all happened really quickly.. so we are closing on the 27th September. Come and enjoy Rays one last time as it was before it goes. And we will be doing a deal on tubs for the next few weeks - 3 tubs for £15!!! So come in and make the most of it.
Opening hours:
Wednesday to Sunday, 12-6pm
Come and say goodbye to Rays and relive your memories 💛
Thank you for all your understanding… I’m as devastated as you 😭
Photos showing our lovely shop over the years 🍦
