Steel City Pops, a gourmet frozen treat shop, is set to open its newest location in Tuscaloosa this summer.

Steel City Pops opened in 2012 and offers a healthy alternative to the typical summertime craving for sweet treats.

“About 10 years ago, my family and I were in in Nashville, and we visited a shop called Las Paletas,” owner Jim Watkins said. “It is owned by two sisters from Mexico who make paletas (Mexican gourmet ice pops) by hand each day. It was a very inspiring shop, and I thought Alabama would be the perfect place to have a pop shop.”

Since Steel City Pops first opened in May 2012, it has amassed a large fan base.

Because of the pop shop’s popularity, it now has other locations around the Birmingham, Ala., area in addition to its home store in Homewood, Ala., including the Pantry at Crestline Village and at the Summit shopping center.

“Tuscaloosa seems like a natural fit for our business,” Watkins said. “It is not too far from Birmingham, and since we are a new company, we didn’t want to get too far away from home with our first shop outside of Birmingham. We also have many customers who attend Alabama, and we can’t wait to be a part of the community on a daily basis. We believe that there are great things going on in Alabama as far as food is concerned.”

Steel City Pops offers a wide variety of pop flavors.

“We serve two types of pops: creamy and fruity,” store manager Jonathan Veazey said. “Our creamy pops have a dairy base and have the texture of ice cream, and our fruity pops have a water base and an icier texture. You can’t go wrong with either.”

Additionally, Veazey said the flavors range from classics like strawberry and vanilla, to more unique pops such as pineapple, jalepeno and buttermilk.

“Our most popular flavors, however, are coffee and chocolate and blood orange and strawberry,” Veazey said.

All of Steel City Pops’ ingredients are either natural or certified organic, and where possible, they are locally harvested. The pops are made with fresh fruits, raw sugar, organic cane sugar and nothing artificial. They are also gluten-free and have no refined sugars. The fruity and avocado pops are also vegan.

Steel City Pops offers more than just ice pops to its customers. It also sells bottled water, hats, shirts and tank tops.

“We are most proud of our bottled water sales,” Watkins said. “All of our bottled water proceeds go to a charitable organization called Neverthirst. They build clean water wells in India and Africa for people who have never had clean water. We’ve already built one well in India and are close to selling enough water for another.”

Steel City Pops is set to open in Tuscaloosa Friday, July 19. The shop will be located at 2128 University Blvd., next to Which Wich and will be open Sunday through Thursday from noon to 9 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 10 p.m.