Marble Slab Creamery, a build-your-own ice cream parlor, opens on Central Avenue in Plaza Midwood this Friday, July 9.

Background: This is local franchise owner Ryan Griffith’s seventh location in the Carolinas, but it’s special, he says, because he’s a resident of the neighborhood and close friends with the former Nova’s Bakery owners.

• “It was hard to see them go,” Griffith says, but he feels fortunate to keep the building’s character alive. “Having a corner spot in Plaza Midwood is a pretty unique situation.”

[Go deeper: Nova’s Bakery to close for good after 24 years]

Menu: Marble Slab has about 50 flavors of ice cream with unlimited toppings you can mix in, similar to Cold Stone Creamery.

• There are also be ice cream cakes, banana splits, hot fudge sundaes, cookie cakes and ice cream cookie sandwiches.
• Customers can order takeout or dine inside.

Space: Griffith says the 1,500-square-foot space kept some of the existing design elements, but was modernized with a “cake walk” and assembly line of toppings so it’s easy to see what you’re ordering.