Duck Island’s opening a store on the corner of Beach St and Cow Ln on December 1, taking over the space previously occupied by bar and restaurant Whakatipu Brewing.
The brand, founded in Hamilton a decade ago by three chefs, is renowned for its range of inventive and often boundary-pushing flavours.
It has seven stores in the North Island, but until it opened a store in central Christchurch a fortnight ago, was only available in supermarkets in the South Island.
Duck Island operations manager Lauren Clark says after a decade of "organic" growth in the North Island, it wants to open stores across the whole country, and Queenstown’s long been a "dream location".
The owners starting scouting the resort about a year ago, and the "right space came along pretty much at the right time", Clark says.
The fit-out’s running ahead of schedule, so the store may even open a couple of days early.
"It’s just really awesome that it’s finally happening."
The company began advertising for staff this week — it usually needs 20 "scoopers" in a store.
However, given it’s opening in peak tourist season and "peak ice-cream season", it may need up to 25 staff, she says.
