Most Oklahomans are familiar with — and probably often tempted by — the colorful ice cream cone-adorned store signs that dot the metro and the state. What awaits inside are delicious cold and creamy treats, sometimes accompanied by a burger and fries. But it’s the ice cream that’s the real standout, and has been since Bill Braum opened his first Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Store in Oklahoma in 1968. It was a business he knew well, after growing up in Emporia, Kansas, and working at his family’s small butter and milk processing plant and their chain of Peter Pan ice cream stores.
After graduating from college with a degree in business administration, Braum bought the business from his father and purchased his first dairy farm. Years later, he received an offer from a wholesaler that was too good to pass up. Braum kept ownership of the dairy herd and processing plant, but the terms of the sale prohibited him from selling ice cream in Kansas for 10 years.
So his future took root in Oklahoma — he and his wife, Mary, opened the first Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Store at 2428 N. Meridian Ave. in Oklahoma City. Business grew quickly, with 24 more stores opening throughout the state in 1968. Initially, the stores didn’t offer grill service, but that soon changed.
Such growth intensified day-to-day operations. The processing plant and dairy herd were still in Emporia, so for three years all products and supplies were transported daily from Kansas to Oklahoma. Consolidation became necessary, and a 60,000-square-foot processing plant was built in 1971 on NE 63rd Street near I-35 in Oklahoma City. A few years later the dairy herd, more than 900 cows in 45 semi-trucks, was moved from Kansas to the new Braum Farm in Tuttle. It was a cattle drive for the modern ages.
Business and operations continued to grow. In 1978, a bakery was built next to the processing plant. Then came the 1980s, a whirlwind for the owners and the business. A 260,000-square-foot processing plant was built on the farm in Tuttle, and the original processing plant became the company’s corporate headquarters. In 1988, Braum and his wife purchased a large farm near the Oklahoma border of Shattuck and Follett, Texas. It is used primarily for growing alfalfa hay for the dairy herd. A milking operation, touted in the 1990s as the largest of its kind in the world, today consists of a milk barn and 16 free-stall barns on the Tuttle Farm, which covers 14,000 acres.
The company and its operations continued to grow, and improvements followed. A 240,000-square-foot bakery and warehouse distribution facility were built on the Tuttle Farm in 2010. Bill Braum, always the innovator, designed and built a trolley to transport the dairy herd to and from the milk barn, eliminating the long and tiring walk several times each day.
Bill Braum died in 2020, but he excelled in overseeing all aspects of the company’s business, from farming to manufacturing to retailing.
The family now owns and operates more than 310 stores throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Missouri and Arkansas, with more planned throughout 2025 — and all are within 300 miles of the Tuttle operation. Each store, offering everything from milk and ice cream to packaged meats and bananas, receives a fresh delivery every other day.
The stores are easy to spot. Just look for the large, colorful ice cream cone signs. And for anyone wondering, Bill Braum’s favorite ice cream flavor was Chocolate Almond.
