The Dairy Witch window on Boston Street in Salem, a family-run walk-up that served the North Shore for 74 summers, will not reopen this season as longtime owner Marietta retires. For generations, locals took the glow of the open sign as proof that summer had finally landed, with long lines, Little League treats and first-date cones crowding the corner. The family says the window will stay closed and that they plan to keep sharing photos and memories with the community.
The announcement appears on the shop’s official pages: "After 74 summers on Boston Street, the window stays closed," the family wrote on its site. According to Dairy Witch Ice Cream, the team is also pointing fans to an online collection meant to keep a piece of the stand alive.
Family Business On The Corner Since 1952
Bea and Pete Polemenako opened the walk-up at 117 Boston Street in 1952, and their daughter Marietta grew up behind the window before eventually taking over daily operations, Patch reports. Patch notes that the family posted the news to social media so that Salem would "hear it from us before anyone else," and confirmed that Marietta is retiring after running the stand her whole life.
What The Family Says And What Comes Next
The family told followers they will be sharing old photos and "a few things we've been working on" so that "a piece of Dairy Witch can stick around," per the shop’s online note. Owners did not commit to a sale or to any timeline for a potential transfer of the business, and local outlets, including the Boston Business Journal, picked up the announcement.
Neighborhood boards and longtime customers reacted with gratitude and disbelief, trading memories that stretch back decades. For now, the open sign on Boston Street will stay dark, and Dairy Witch’s soft-serve legacy will live on in photos, tees, stickers and the summer stories Salem residents tell about cones and childhood nights by the window.
