When Ashley Monconduit first opened SnoCorner, her New Orleans-style shaved ice shop across from Poly High School, she could only afford an ice shaver and an ice cream machine with the money she had saved up while working in real estate.
Five years later, she’s become a community staple. She and her team serve bulk batches of beignets, funnel cakes and a wide variety of snoballs — a shaved ice dessert with a finer cut of ice and often featuring ice cream or condensed milk as a topping.
Earlier this year, she hit a landmark, serving beignets and matcha drinks at Coachella. Now, she’s hitting another milestone, celebrating five years of business.
“I still don’t really have a lot of words for that moment,” Monconduit said. On Saturday, she’ll be raffling off five prizes in celebration.
Monconduit grew up in Long Beach, but would often visit family in Louisiana during the summer. She remembered her and a “herd of cousins” frequenting snoball shops out there and wanted to spread her love of that dessert to Long Beach.
Her shop on Atlantic has become a frequent stop for Poly students after school, and she’s even employed several of them. Teachers have even brought their full classrooms over for a quick field trip, Monconduit said.
She also has a special connection to the location: Her grandparents bought the building in 1971 to open a real estate business, and her mom still uses the adjacent unit to run her mortgage and refinance business.
Monconduit got a degree in accounting but also studied the art of snoball making after asking a shop in New Orleans to show her the ropes. That skill has paid off, and Monconduit said she hopes to eventually open another location.
For now, she’s focused on enjoying the daily joy that her shop brings, including a couple who stopped by late last year to take their wedding photos.
Monconduit hasn’t yet announced Saturday’s raffle prizes, but said they would match the theme of five things she’s thankful for with her business.
To enter the raffle, visitors must make a purchase and write down five things they’re thankful for.
If it’s your first time visiting the shop, Monconduit suggests trying strawberry or ice cream flavor. She said the ice cream flavor tastes like vanilla with a hint of cotton candy.
With snoballs, the fine cut of ice makes for a different experience as you eat it.
On a hot day, by the end, it can “turn into an ice cream milkshake,” Monconduit said.
SnoCorner, 1701 Atlantic Avenue, is open every day from noon to 7:30 p.m. Their fifth anniversary celebration will include a raffle this Saturday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.