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Key Takeaways
- He stepped into a legacy brand not to rewrite its story, but to protect what made it special.
- He didn’t focus on chasing trends or forcing transformation for the sake of growth.
- His strategy was to grow stronger through care and less so through disruption.
Michael Palmer, CEO of McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams, didn’t plan to take over one of California’s most beloved ice cream brands.
After years of flying around the country running branding programs for major companies, Palmer was already questioning what the next chapter of his career might look like. Then, out of nowhere, his house burned down in a massive wildfire near Santa Barbara.
“Sometimes in life you get to a certain age and you’re on that train,” Palmer says. “And then sometimes you don’t jump. You get pushed.”
The fire forced a reset. As Palmer stepped away from his old career, the now 76-year-old McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams was still deeply loved, but it was struggling to find stable footing. The brand had spent decades as a hyper-regional favorite, woven into the fabric of Santa Barbara. What drew Palmer in was not the opportunity to reinvent something iconic, but the responsibility of continuing it.
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“It was always this hyper-regional, beloved brand,” he explains. “There was so much love for it here that we felt like it deserved more than just fading away.”
Taking over McConnell’s meant understanding what not to change. Palmer knew that legacy brands do not survive by chasing trends or forcing transformation for the sake of growth. “It’s hard to take something that’s been chugging along for sixty years and do a 180-degree turn,” he admits. “Sometimes it’s easier to originate something new.”
Instead, Palmer focused on preservation with intention. The product, the sourcing and the emotional connection customers had to the brand were treated as non-negotiables. “We weren’t originating a brand,” he says. “We were taking the elements that made it special and turning up the volume.”
That mindset became the foundation for everything that followed. McConnell’s path forward would not be defined by shortcuts or quick scale, but by clarity, discipline and alignment. Palmer’s background in branding gave him the tools, but the fire gave him the perspective. What began as a forced turning point became a commitment to stew.
Growth through alignment
For Michael Palmer, growth at McConnell’s was never about getting bigger faster. It was about finding the right partners and letting alignment do the work. That philosophy is reflected in where the conversation took place, at the Palm Tree Music Festival in Santa Barbara, with support from eero, a system software company, and in how McConnell’s chooses moments and partners that align with its values.
That philosophy comes through clearly in McConnell’s collaboration with See’s Candies. Instead of chasing a splashy co-branding moment, the partnership unfolded slowly, rooted in shared values around quality and restraint. “I never thought hope was a great strategy,” Palmer says. “You have to find the things you can own that other brands can’t.”
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Both brands are California-born, family-rooted and uncompromising about their product. That common ground mattered. “When you find like-minded brands who really operate with the same goals and values, you’ve got something,” Palmer explains. “Where they will and won’t compromise matters.”
The collaboration took nearly a year to develop, with flavors incubated inside McConnell’s scoop shops before expanding into retail. “We wanted to see how people actually responded,” Palmer says. “We weren’t trying to force it. We wanted the product to earn its place.”
That same discipline defines McConnell’s approach to grocery stores. While the brand has expanded nationally, Palmer has resisted treating retail as a land grab. “Our stated goal from day one was to make the finest product in the business,” he says. “That’s a different goal than making something good enough to sell quickly.”
Competing against private equity-backed brands has only reinforced that mindset. “We knew our road would be longer,” Palmer admits. “But we also knew we had a product and a story that couldn’t be replicated overnight.”
Rather than dilute the brand, grocery stores became a way to extend its identity. Scoop shops remain largely rooted in California, while retail allows McConnell’s to reach customers without abandoning its sense of place.
For McConnell’s, partnerships like See’s Candies and a measured grocery presence are not growth tactics. They are proof points of a philosophy built on patience, focus and trust in the product.
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Key Takeaways
- He stepped into a legacy brand not to rewrite its story, but to protect what made it special.
- He didn’t focus on chasing trends or forcing transformation for the sake of growth.
- His strategy was to grow stronger through care and less so through disruption.
Michael Palmer, CEO of McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams, didn’t plan to take over one of California’s most beloved ice cream brands.
After years of flying around the country running branding programs for major companies, Palmer was already questioning what the next chapter of his career might look like. Then, out of nowhere, his house burned down in a massive wildfire near Santa Barbara.
