Good Neighbor Podcast: Union
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Residents of Northern Kentucky! Based in Union, KY....The Good Neighbor Podcast helps the residents of Northern Kentucky get to know local business owners as people. We allow the business owners and influencers in NKY to tell the stories of how they started their business and why. We hear about their families, their personal interests and why they love living in and serving resident of Northern Kentucky!
Good Neighbor Podcast: Union
Sweet Nostalgia: Rita's Italian Ice Comes to Boone County
Sweet treats are coming to Boone County! After nearly a year of planning, local residents Christa and Bob Moore are bringing Rita's Italian Ice and Frozen Custard to Northern Kentucky. In this candid conversation, Krista reveals how annual family vacation stops at Rita's in Florida sparked a passion that's now becoming a community business venture.
Rita's isn't your typical frozen dessert shop. With over 600 locations across 30 states, this East Coast favorite offers Italian ice that's smoother than a snow cone with a sherbet-like consistency made from water and natural fruit. Their signature "gelati" combines layers of this flavorful ice with creamy frozen custard for a unique treat that has developed what Christa describes as a "cult-like following." From classic mango (a top seller) to creative flavors like Skittles, plus frozen coffees, lemonades, and more, there's something for everyone.
Located at 7220 Burlington Pike near Boone County High School, the new Rita's will occupy the former Drinkology space, complete with a convenient drive-thru window. The Moores, who've called Oakbrook home for 26 years, are making this truly a family business – Bob brings food service management experience, Christa contributes marketing expertise, and their adult children (two with business degrees) are all involved in various capacities. With plans to open this fall, they're preparing to hire managers, shift leads, and team members starting in August. As Krista beautifully puts it: "We just really wanted a place where people can come make memories, have a few moments outside of the crazy world and just be happy." Follow their journey on Facebook and prepare your taste buds for a delicious new community gathering spot where happiness is served daily.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, mike Murphy. Thanks, charlie. Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host of the Good Neighbor Podcast, a podcast that is introducing local business owners and influencers, movers, shakers and friends of mine to the community at large. So a local business owner that I have with me today is also a friend of mine. Her name is Krista Moore, and Krista Moore is the owner of the soon-to-be-opened and we'll kind of define what that means Rita's Italian Ice and Frozen Custard. Is that correct, krista?
Speaker 2:That is correct.
Speaker 1:Okay, good Well, krista, welcome to the podcast and we're going to just sort of share your good happy news with the community. I'm sure you know people have kind of heard inklings and seen heard rumors that Rita's Italian Ice is coming to Boone County and the rumors are true.
Speaker 2:They are true.
Speaker 1:And you and your husband Bob are the ones that are making that happen. So let's talk about that. Welcome to the podcast, krista.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me. Good to see you again.
Speaker 1:You too. I want to first of all say congratulations. It seems like this is great news for the community. When I saw the news come out on social media, there were people that were kind of interjecting their thoughts into the feeds and I kind of got the impression. Now let me just say I've never been to a Rita's Italian ice and frozen custard. I don't have any history with it, but I'm intrigued because it almost seems to have a cult like following around the country. If people have lived somewhere where they had Rita's and then they came here and they didn't have Rita's anymore, they're just doing backflips that Rita's is coming to Boone County.
Speaker 2:That's true, it does have a following. It originated up in kind of the northeast, so around Jersey, philly, connecticut, so a lot of East Coast individuals are super familiar with it and it does have a following. I think now it's in 30 states, around over 600 locations over 600 locations. And really we found out about Rita's. My mom lived in Florida and every time we'd go to Florida there was a Rita's near her in Clearwater. We'd always stop, get a Rita's and then anyone in my family that wasn't with us we'd. I probably have 50 shots of my hand with a Rita's. We'd take a picture and send it back and everybody would be jealous of our Rita's stop. So it's a great product, very community friendly, family friendly and does have a following.
Speaker 1:Okay. Well, if somebody walks into a Rita's, if they're not familiar with Rita's, what type of experience are they going to have?
Speaker 2:Well, the kind of the tagline is ice, custard Happiness. So that is the experience that we hope you will have. And the Italian ice is not like your snow cone ice, it's more of a sherbet type of ice, but made of water, natural fruit and tons of different flavors. So, and then there's the custard, which is, you know, a bit creamier than ice cream. And you know, one of my favorites, my family's favorites and hope to be the community's favorites, is a layer of the Italian ice with the custard, a couple layers, and we call that a gelati. So definitely some education. If you have never been to Arita's, come in and try it and you will soon be a follower. Just like the comments on the Facebook page.
Speaker 1:So multiple flavors I take it.
Speaker 2:Multiple flavors, uh, and the you know Rita's is really good about um, trying different things. I think there's a bomb pop gelati right now. Mango is one of the top sellers. As far as the Italian ice, there's Skittles, I mean we also do frozen coffees, lemonade, frozen lemonades, a lot of different types of treats.
Speaker 1:Okay. So if you're not the typical, you know ice cream custard, you know, I know it's not snow cones, but in that genre, if you're not really that type of person, there's still something there for you, correct?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, 100%. We'll have pretzels and cookie sandwiches, and different types of lemonades, different iced coffees, always trying to come out with some new and creative seasonal types of items as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you're not open yet. We know that there's an opening date somewhere out there, yet to be determined. Do you have sort of an idea of time of year, what month maybe you'll be open to?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Ideally we wanted to be open by end of the summer, but we've actually been working on this project for close to a year now. So patience on our part and timing is everything. More toward the fall, and just in time for football season, basketball season, you know, school, back to school, all that.
Speaker 1:All right. So, talking about school, you're in Boone County. I'm just thinking about, you know, relation to the school and whatnot. Where is the location, the Boone County location? What's the address?
Speaker 2:Boone County location is 7220 Burlington Pike and we're on the end there. The end unit has a drive-thru. Next to there's a vet and Jets Pizza right next to Boone County High School.
Speaker 1:All right, very close to the high school.
Speaker 2:Very close.
Speaker 1:It's occupying a space that used to be Drinkology, correct.
Speaker 2:Yeah, drinkology, I think, left the space in May. We took over the space I think it was like June 1 and are in the process of working with Rita's franchise local architects to really make the space into a space that is definitely representative of the Rita's brand and experience when you come in.
Speaker 1:Okay. So you said you you kind of would have liked to have opened up, you know, still within summertime, whatnot? I'm sure there's way more that goes into it than meets the eye, and maybe the process has been kind of educational for you as well. Have you suffered any hiccups along the way that, um, that made you lose sleep at night?
Speaker 2:Um, I mean, anytime you go into, uh, a venture like this, it's kind of you don't know what, you don't know, kind of thing, Um, you know, I think finding a space was more challenging than we originally thought.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, I think finding a space was more challenging than we originally thought. You know, we really wanted to find the right space and location. We'd actually looked at spaces all throughout northern Kentucky, as far out, as you know, campbell County, parts of Kenton, independence and at the end of the day, we have rights to two Rita's franchises and at the end of the day, we really wanted our first franchise to be in our community, which is Boone County. Our kids went to Boone County High School. We've lived in Oak Brook for over 25 years. It's our home, it's our community and we wanted to be, you know, even a bigger part of that community as well as give back. So finding the space was challenging and then finding a space with the drive-thru, we really got lucky. Okay, we really got lucky.
Speaker 1:Okay, Well, you know, with successful ventures like this you've got to do it right in order for it to stick. You're going through all the hard work so that the community can enjoy Aritas here locally instead of having to go up to the northeast or down to Florida or wherever.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So thank you very much for that. So you mentioned your family living in Oak Brook. You've got a hubby and three kids, three kids that are older. I assume you and Bob are empty nesters, or.
Speaker 2:Not quite. Yet we have that, that third one that's still here. It's still hanging on.
Speaker 1:It's kind of a family affair though I mean, I assume that even if the kids aren't going to be working in the business, they have a vested interest and so you're going to have all the help you need to get this thing up and running, other than just you and Bob, correct?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, and really, when we thought about doing this, we wanted to have something that our kids could be a part of long term. We've also invited them to be part of the conversations with the franchise them to be part of the conversations with the franchise. Looking at, you know what it takes to find the space, and so they've been, you know, part of the process along the way, as much or as little as they want to be. But when we get open, you know my husband managed several Skyline Chili's corporate stores, you know, for several years. He's since does customer service management and training.
Speaker 2:My two older kids both have business degrees from Northern Kentucky University. My youngest has experience in food service and is actually going to Gateway right now to get her general education classes and I think she's also going into some type of business. So you know it's definitely will be a family effort with my younger daughter and my husband. And then I'm a marketer, by a career marketer, so I'll be assisting with the marketing as well, as our future daughter-in-law just got her marketing degree, so I hope to mentor her as well and, you know, hopefully one of them will want to open that second location.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you've got the rights to two that second location yet to be determined, but is there a timeline in terms of when you think realistically that second one would be ready to? Come to whatever community.
Speaker 2:We definitely want to get this first one up and running, get it so that every experience is as positive of an experience as it can be. I mean, I'm sure we'll make some hiccups here at first while we're getting started, but quality service, being part of the community, we'll be doing delivery, catering as well, really want to get involved with the schools and churches, local community. Once we kind of get that, I'm thinking we're probably two years out from the second one.
Speaker 1:You'll know it when you see it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, unless there's just a space that comes to us and we're like, oh my gosh, you know this is perfect.
Speaker 1:One thing I didn't ask is you know what drew you to Rita's? I mean, I know that you've had experience personally with Rita's on, you know, vacation and whatnot, so you're familiar with the brand. But there are plenty of things that you could have done. And what brought you to Redis specifically?
Speaker 2:There are several things that we looked into. I looked into personally, you know some of which were even more marketing focused, like large format printing, and you know when you look at your professional journey and you know what's ahead and different parts and chapters of that journey you look at, you know what do you want that to look like? And you know if you go to the Rita's website, some of the bullet points are a friendly face made fresh daily and happiness. I mean we just really wanted a place where people can come make memories, have a few moments outside of the crazy world and just be happy. I've not seen a whole lot of people that are sad eating custard, frozen ice and treats. So the brand itself and the franchise very solid, very committed to their franchisees. So that's really kind of what drew us to. It is doing something a little different, but utilizing our skills and background at the same time.
Speaker 1:It's colorful, it's fun, so who wouldn't want to be a part of that? Yeah, let's see. Is there anything that we haven't talked about yet, that you want to make sure people know, about Rita's or about your family, or just in general, that questions that I should be asking, that I haven't asked you yet?
Speaker 2:Wow, that's a good question, that's that's a good question.
Speaker 2:You don't have to have an answer um you know, I, I just think our family, um, my kids have played sports in this community since they were old enough to toddle you know, be a toddler down the soccer field. It's a place in a community that's treated us very well. We love it here. My kids still have friends they've met in this neighborhood. My son's, 29, still hangs out with his friends that he met when he was four in this neighborhood. So we want to be part of the community. We want to, you know, welcome. You know community types of organizations. We want to work with you and we want people to feel like it's a great place to come. Um, for a little, pick me up.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's um, that's all good talking points because really you know one of the buzzwords in marketing you're a marketing person you know it is support, local. So everything that you have described today is local, local, yeah, you, your family's been here in Oakbrook for 30-ish years, or like close to 30 years maybe.
Speaker 2:It's been 26. Yeah.
Speaker 1:All right, so coming up on 30 years, so you're local and you're you're bringing another local brand to Boone County. Yeah, and so to that point, you know, part of what comes with local business is interaction with the community. You've kind of described your vision for, you know, a place for community to come to enjoy a happy oasis away from. You know, life that we're all dealing with every day, but also with that you know, people you know in the community may be excited for Rita's because that could be a place that they would like to work A hundred percent, and we're going to need.
Speaker 1:When will you be at that point where you think you'll be starting to look to?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think we'll be starting that effort, probably into August, early September, and we definitely will need, you know, all kinds of different individuals to work with us. We have, you know, probably a need for a manager. We need shift leads, ice makers, treat, team members. So, you know, it's definitely one thing that I would like for it to be is a place where you know people work, they enjoy coming to work, they feel like they have a purpose when they come to work, and it can also be a place where they learn some good skills and even just principles that they can take with them, you know, as they grow their career.
Speaker 1:Okay. Well, one of the advantages of doing a podcast like this is anybody out there who might end up having you as a boss someday. They get to see your smiling face. I know you well enough to know that you're tough, but I also know that there's a very soft side to you as well.
Speaker 2:Right, I'm probably too empathetic at times. It gets in the way.
Speaker 1:You'll have people around you to kind of help keep things running. I mean, that's what we all do. It's like you have to have, within any well-oiled machine, you know, opposites and people that are there in support roles, and so if you end up being a little too nice, I don't know, maybe, maybe Bob could be the hammer. We'll see, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think when you guys start initially, I know Bob and probably one of the kids will be most instrumental in getting this thing up and running and I think people will probably want to know more immediately by running to a website or whatever. But I think your website is probably still in development. Is that correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're actually standing up a lot of those types of pieces. You know we do have a pretty, have a pretty you know busy kind of project plan from everything to, you know signage, to hiring, to marketing and that type of thing. We'll have a Facebook page. We'll have, you know, a local portion of the Rita's website and, yeah, once we get that up, definitely want everyone to follow us on there. But, yeah, more info to come.
Speaker 1:Well, good, but in the meantime, this has been a nice teaser for the community. You know you and your family have had to be. You know you've had to be patient, yes, Ever since you know you had the idea. Just like any great idea, you want it to come to fruition sooner rather than later, but everything in its own time, you know, yeah, and just like you've had to be patient, the community has to be patient as well. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:Including me. You've had to be patient the community has to be patient as well, including me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's one thing that you know I probably is one of my strengths is that I do have the ability to be patient and kind of look into the future and say, okay, there's a reason why this space didn't work out. You know there's a reason for you know the timing. I just can, can visualize that and and really, if I look back, some of the spaces that we really wanted being patient has paid off, because this is just a great space. So my husband's maybe not as patient as I am, so I've been trying to just remind him that you know there's this is just we're in this for the long game, right? We gotta gotta do it right.
Speaker 1:Well, the yin and the yang, everything happens for a reason yes, I'm just glad it's happening at all so yeah right and uh, I just want you to give me a little peek behind the curtain someday, before you actually open up oh, we'll have you in.
Speaker 2:Uh, you can do a kind of a sneak peek. We'll let you sample all the flavors and and see the store. Um, we, we are super excited about it and um, yeah, can't wait to get it.
Speaker 1:I'm excited for you and Bob and the kids and the community at large. Um it's, it's just great news for everybody. So thanks for bringing this to Boone County, yeah.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:With that we'll wrap it up. I mean, this has been a fun conversation with you, Krista, so thanks for joining me in my virtual studio today. Yeah, thanks, the next time we see each other we'll be in person.
Speaker 2:That's right, we'll be sampling some custard and ice.
Speaker 1:You'll use me as a guinea pig, a test dummy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll probably be like 300, you know, pounds heavier at that point.
Speaker 1:Restraint, restraint, yeah, all right, well, good, well, with, with. With that having been said, we are at the end of our conversation now, so it's time for us to sign off, and so Krista say goodbye. Goodbye for us to sign off, and so Krista say goodbye. Goodbye Everybody, till next time. This is the Good Neighbor Podcast. So, everyone out there, be good to your neighbor. See you on the next edition of the Good Neighbor Podcast. Bye everybody. Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Union.
Speaker 2:To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPUnioncom. That's GNPUnioncom, or call us at 859-651-8330.