The Mad Martha’s Ice Cream stores have been sold for $6 million, marking a new era for the iconic 50-year old Island business.

The sale of three properties closed May 13, including commercial storefronts in the three down-Island towns, along with the rights to the Mad Martha’s business.

The three-property package was listed for sale at $10.5 million last November. A purchase and sale agreement was signed March 1.

The listing agent was Jared Bicknell of Feiner Real Estate. 

In a follow-up text, Mr. Bicknell said that the rights to the business were purchased for $2.2 million, making the total sale price $8.2 million. 

The buyers are a group of at least four investors, led by Brook Katzen, Island businessman and current owner of Little House Cafe and Island Cove Adventures mini golf course, and James (Jim) Shane, a real estate developer and longtime Edgartown resident.

The sale is listed under two LLCs, one connected to Mr. Katzen and New York-based investor Samuel Schreiber, as well as a separate LLC connected to Mr. Shane and investor Darren Black.

Mr. Shane and Mr. Katzen, who organized the two investor groups, will serve as business co-managers, with Mr. Katzen overseeing general operations of the business, both said by phone on Monday.

According to records from LINK, the Island’s multiple real estate listing service, the Mad Martha’s Edgartown storefront on North Water street sold for $2 million, the Oak Bluffs location on Circuits avenue sold for $1.9 million and the Vineyard Haven location sold for $2.1 million.

The ice cream business, begun in 1971 out of the back of an ambulance sedan fitted with sirens, has been a staple summer for Islanders and seasonal residents for half a century. President Bill Clinton was photographed eating an ice cream cone there in 1993.

Former owners Patricia and Paul Roberts have shepherded the business through its most recent era, establishing down-Island locations in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs in 2004 and a Vineyard Haven storefront in 2014. Their daughter Emily managed the Edgartown store.

After 24 years in the business, they decided to put the property up for sale earlier this year.

Reached by phone Monday, Mr. Katzen said he planned to preserve the business — and its recipes — through its next chapter, with an eye toward expansion in the coming years.

“Mad Martha’s is an iconic brand, not just on this Island, but throughout the state and probably throughout New England,” Mr. Katzen said. “We’re not going to change much.”

But among the upcoming changes, Mr. Katzen said he planned to add a slate of new flavors to the usual menu, including dairy-free ice creams made from oat and cashew milks, as well as a series of a flavor collaborations with Island businesses like a Back Door Donuts apple fritter ice cream and a Chilmark Coffee flavor.

Mr. Katzen said other near future plans include selling ice cream at Martha’s Vineyard Sharks games and at the Cove beginning this summer. The business will also begin selling ice cream wholesale to Island restaurants and caterers this season, with plans to expand farther to markets on the Cape in the future.

The business will also be getting a website and a new, refreshed logo in the near future, while longer-term plans for an up-Island location remain on the horizon, Mr. Katzen said.

“I think what made this deal possible is that we were interested in the real estate, but also saw a lot of potential in the operating business,” he said. “The ice cream is the same as it always was — that’s why Mad Martha’s has been so successful in the past — and that’s what’s gonna carry it into the future.”

Mr. Shane echoed the sentiment, noting his excitement for the next chapter for the business, particularly as it celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

“We’re just taking the fabulous foundation that was established,” Mr. Shane said. “We hope to be able to give back just a little bit of what this marvelous place that we were blessed to live in has been able to provide to us."

Updated to include the Mad Martha's business sale price.