High's Dairy Store
High's Dairy Stores is a chain of convenience stores in Maryland and Delaware. It once had locations in Virginia, and Washington, D.C. as well, many of which have been converted to 7-Elevens. The company is based in Hanover, Maryland.
History
It was founded as High’s Ice Cream by L.W. High in Richmond, Virginia in 1932 and purchased by James R. Gregory, Jr. (1914–1994) with two partners in 1938, at which time there were 16 stores and an ice cream plant in Richmond. In 1941, Convenient Systems, Inc. of Winston-Salem, North Carolina purchased the chain, then numbering 50 stores. Gregory remained at the helm until 1976. The company was acquired by the Capital Milk Producers Cooperative, who grew the chain to 350 High's Dairy Stores and Restaurants, and sold the Virginia stores in 1987 to Southland Corporation (owners of the 7-Eleven chain). Many High's sell Citgo or Shell gasoline. High's still features hand-dipped ice cream as well as other dairy products. The company now has over 50 stores in Maryland.
Ice cream
The right to produce High's brand of ice cream was sold in 1989 to Kay's Ice Cream, based in Knoxville, Tennessee (which was subsequently acquired by C. F. Sauer Company in 1990). The company no longer manufactures High's brand of ice cream. Until 2010 there was a High's Ice Cream parlor remaining in Portsmouth, Virginia, but it sold Hershey's brand ice cream. At the time of its closing, it still had the original High's interior (though showing its age) including the white and black checkerboard floor tiles that High's Ice Cream stores were known for.