July 14, 2025 • 24 mins
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.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, mike Murphy.
Thanks, charlie.
Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host ofthe Good Neighbor Podcast, a
podcast that is introducinglocal business owners and
(00:21):
influencers, movers, shakers andfriends of mine to the
community at large.
So a local business owner thatI have with me today is also a
friend of mine.
Her name is Krista Moore, andKrista Moore is the owner of the
soon-to-be-opened and we'llkind of define what that means
Rita's Italian Ice and FrozenCustard.
(00:45):
Is that correct, krista?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
That is correct.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Okay, good Well, krista, welcome to the podcast
and we're going to just sort ofshare your good happy news with
the community.
I'm sure you know people havekind of heard inklings and seen
heard rumors that Rita's ItalianIce is coming to Boone County
and the rumors are true.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
They are true.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
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 (01:13):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Good to see you again.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
You too.
I want to first of all saycongratulations.
It seems like this is greatnews for the community.
When I saw the news come out onsocial media, there were people
that were kind of interjectingtheir thoughts into the feeds
and I kind of got the impression.
Now let me just say I've neverbeen to a Rita's Italian ice and
(01:39):
frozen custard.
I don't have any history withit, but I'm intrigued because it
almost seems to have a cultlike following around the
country.
If people have lived somewherewhere they had Rita's and then
they came here and they didn'thave Rita's anymore, they're
just doing backflips that Rita'sis coming to Boone County.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
That's true, it does have a following.
It originated up in kind of thenortheast, so around Jersey,
philly, connecticut, so a lot ofEast Coast individuals are
super familiar with it and itdoes have a following.
(02:15):
I think now it's in 30 states,around over 600 locations over
600 locations.
And really we found out aboutRita's.
My mom lived in Florida andevery time we'd go to Florida
(02:36):
there was a Rita's near her inClearwater.
We'd always stop, get a Rita'sand then anyone in my family
that wasn't with us we'd.
I probably have 50 shots of myhand with a Rita's.
We'd take a picture and send itback and everybody would be
jealous of our Rita's stop.
(02:58):
So it's a great product, verycommunity friendly, family
friendly and does have afollowing.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Okay.
Well, if somebody walks into aRita's, if they're not familiar
with Rita's, what type ofexperience are they going to
have?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, the kind of the tagline is ice, custard
Happiness.
So that is the experience thatwe hope you will have.
And the Italian ice is not likeyour snow cone ice, it's more
of a sherbet type of ice, butmade of water, natural fruit and
(03:44):
tons of different flavors.
So, and then there's thecustard, which is, you know, a
bit creamier than ice cream.
And you know, one of myfavorites, my family's favorites
and hope to be the community'sfavorites, is a layer of the
Italian ice with the custard, acouple layers, and we call that
(04:07):
a gelati.
So definitely some education.
If you have never been toArita's, come in and try it and
you will soon be a follower.
Just like the comments on theFacebook page.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
So multiple flavors I take it.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Multiple flavors, uh, and the you know Rita's is
really good about um, tryingdifferent things.
I think there's a bomb popgelati 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
(04:54):
different types of treats.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
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 (05:14):
Oh yeah, 100%.
We'll have pretzels and cookiesandwiches, and different types
of lemonades, different icedcoffees, always trying to come
out with some new and creativeseasonal types of items as well.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Okay, so you're not open yet.
We know that there's an openingdate somewhere out there, yet
to be determined.
Do you have sort of an idea oftime of year, what month maybe
you'll be open to?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, Ideally we wanted to be open by end of the
summer, but we've actually beenworking on this project for
close to a year now.
So patience on our part andtiming is everything.
(06:08):
More toward the fall, and justin time for football season,
basketball season, you know,school, back to school, all that
.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
All right.
So, talking about school,you're in Boone County.
I'm just thinking about, youknow, relation to the school and
whatnot.
Where is the location, theBoone County location?
What's the address?
Speaker 2 (06:36):
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 JetsPizza right next to Boone County
High School.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
All right, very close to the high school.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Very close.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
It's occupying a space that used to be Drinkology
, correct.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yeah, drinkology, I think, left the space in May.
We took over the space I thinkit was like June 1 and are in
the process of working withRita's franchise local
architects to really make thespace into a space that is
(07:27):
definitely representative of theRita's brand and experience
when you come in.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Okay.
So you said you you kind ofwould have liked to have opened
up, you know, still withinsummertime, whatnot?
I'm sure there's way more thatgoes into it than meets the eye,
and maybe the process has beenkind of educational for you as
well.
Have you suffered any hiccupsalong the way that, um, that
(07:55):
made you lose sleep at night?
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Um, I mean, anytime you go into, uh, a venture like
this, it's kind of you don'tknow what, you don't know, kind
of thing, Um, you know, I thinkfinding a space was more
challenging than we originallythought.
Um, you know, I think finding aspace was more challenging than
we originally thought.
You know, we really wanted tofind the right space and
(08:21):
location.
We'd actually looked at spacesall throughout northern Kentucky
, as far out, as you know,campbell County, parts of Kenton
, independence and at the end ofthe day, we have rights to two
Rita's franchises and at the endof the day, we really wanted
(08:43):
our first franchise to be in ourcommunity, which is Boone
County.
Our kids went to Boone CountyHigh School.
We've lived in Oak Brook forover 25 years.
It's our home, it's ourcommunity and we wanted to be,
you know, even a bigger part ofthat community as well as give
back.
So finding the space waschallenging and then finding a
(09:06):
space with the drive-thru, wereally got lucky.
Okay, we really got lucky.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Okay, Well, you know, with successful ventures like
this you've got to do it rightin order for it to stick.
You're going through all thehard work so that the community
can enjoy Aritas here locallyinstead of having to go up to
the northeast or down to Floridaor wherever.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
So thank you very much for that.
So you mentioned your familyliving in Oak Brook.
You've got a hubby and threekids, three kids that are older.
I assume you and Bob are emptynesters, or.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Not quite.
Yet we have that, that thirdone that's still here.
It's still hanging on.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
It's kind of a family affair though I mean, I assume
that even if the kids aren'tgoing to be working in the
business, they have a vestedinterest and so you're going to
have all the help you need toget this thing up and running,
other than just you and Bob,correct?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Oh yeah, and really, when we thought about doing this
, we wanted to have somethingthat our kids could be a part of
long term.
We've also invited them to bepart of the conversations with
the franchise them to be part ofthe conversations with the
(10:38):
franchise.
Looking at, you know what ittakes to find the space, and so
they've been, you know, part ofthe process along the way, as
much or as little as they wantto be.
But when we get open, you knowmy husband managed several
Skyline Chili's corporate stores, you know, for several years.
(11:03):
He's since does customerservice management and training.
My two older kids both havebusiness degrees from Northern
Kentucky University.
My youngest has experience infood service and is actually
going to Gateway right now toget her general education
(11:28):
classes and I think she's alsogoing into some type of business
.
So you know it's definitelywill be a family effort with my
younger daughter and my husband.
And then I'm a marketer, by acareer marketer, so I'll be
assisting with the marketing aswell, as our future
(11:49):
daughter-in-law just got hermarketing degree, so I hope to
mentor her as well and, you know, hopefully one of them will
want to open that secondlocation.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
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 realisticallythat second one would be ready
to?
Come to whatever community.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
We definitely want to get this first one up and
running, get it so that everyexperience is as positive of an
experience as it can be.
I mean, I'm sure we'll makesome hiccups here at first while
we're getting started, butquality service, being part of
(12:43):
the community, we'll be doingdelivery, catering as well,
really want to get involved withthe schools and churches, local
community.
Once we kind of get that, I'mthinking we're probably two
years out from the second one.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
You'll know it when you see it.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Yeah, unless there's just a space that comes to us
and we're like, oh my gosh, youknow this is perfect.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
One thing I didn't ask is you know what drew you to
Rita's?
I mean, I know that you've hadexperience personally with
Rita's on, you know, vacationand whatnot, so you're familiar
with the brand.
But there are plenty of thingsthat you could have done.
And what brought you to Redisspecifically?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
There are several things that we looked into.
I looked into personally, youknow some of which were even
more marketing focused, likelarge format printing, and you
know when you look at yourprofessional journey and you
(13:55):
know what's ahead and differentparts and chapters of that
journey you look at, you knowwhat do you want that to look
like?
And you know if you go to theRita's website, some of the
bullet points are a friendlyface made fresh daily and
(14:15):
happiness.
I mean we just really wanted aplace where people can come make
memories, have a few momentsoutside of the crazy world and
just be happy.
I've not seen a whole lot ofpeople that are sad eating
(14:38):
custard, frozen ice and treats.
So the brand itself and thefranchise very solid, very
committed to their franchisees.
So that's really kind of whatdrew us to.
It is doing something a littledifferent, but utilizing our
(15:01):
skills and background at thesame time.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
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 wehaven't talked about yet, that
you want to make sure peopleknow, about Rita's or about your
family, or just in general,that questions that I should be
(15:27):
asking, that I haven't asked youyet?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Wow, that's a good question, that's that's a good
question.
You don't have to have an answerum you know, I, I just think
our family, um, my kids haveplayed sports in this community
since they were old enough totoddle you know, be a toddler
(15:54):
down the soccer field.
It's a place in a communitythat's treated us very well.
We love it here.
My kids still have friendsthey've met in this neighborhood
.
My son's, 29, still hangs outwith his friends that he met
(16:17):
when he was four in thisneighborhood.
So we want to be part of thecommunity.
We want to, you know, welcome.
You know community types oforganizations.
We want to work with you and wewant people to feel like it's a
great place to come.
(16:38):
Um, for a little, pick me up.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, that's um, that's all good talking points
because really you know one ofthe buzzwords in marketing
you're a marketing person youknow it is support, local.
So everything that you havedescribed today is local, local,
yeah, you, your family's beenhere in Oakbrook for 30-ish
years, or like close to 30 yearsmaybe.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
It's been 26.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
All right, so coming up on 30 years, so you're local
and you're you're bringinganother local brand to Boone
County.
Yeah, and so to that point, youknow, part of what comes with
local business is interactionwith the community.
You've kind of described yourvision for, you know, a place
(17:24):
for community to come to enjoy ahappy oasis away from.
You know, life that we're alldealing with every day, but also
with that you know, people youknow in the community may be
excited for Rita's because thatcould be a place that they would
like to work A hundred percent,and we're going to need.
(17:46):
When will you be at that pointwhere you think you'll be
starting to look to?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Yeah, I think we'll be starting that effort,
probably into August, earlySeptember, and we definitely
will need, you know, all kindsof different individuals to work
with us.
We have, you know, probably aneed for a manager.
(18:11):
We need shift leads, ice makers, treat, team members.
So, you know, it's definitelyone thing that I would like for
it to be is a place where youknow people work, they enjoy
(18:32):
coming to work, they feel likethey have a purpose when they
come to work, and it can also bea place where they learn some
good skills and even justprinciples that they can take
with them, you know, as theygrow their career.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Okay.
Well, one of the advantages ofdoing a podcast like this is
anybody out there who might endup having you as a boss someday.
They get to see your smilingface.
I know you well enough to knowthat you're tough, but I also
know that there's a very softside to you as well.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Right, I'm probably too empathetic at times.
It gets in the way.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
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 peoplethat are there in support roles,
and so if you end up being alittle too nice, I don't know,
maybe, maybe Bob could be thehammer.
(19:41):
We'll see, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I think when you guys start initially, I know Bob and
probably one of the kids willbe most instrumental in getting
this thing up and running and Ithink people will probably want
to know more immediately byrunning to a website or whatever
.
But I think your website isprobably still in development.
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (20:04):
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
(20:25):
of project plan from everythingto, you know signage, to hiring
, to marketing and that type ofthing.
We'll have a Facebook page.
We'll have, you know, a localportion 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 (20:48):
Well, good, but in the meantime, this has been a
nice teaser for the community.
You know you and your familyhave had to be.
You know you've had to bepatient, yes, Ever since you
know you had the idea.
Just like any great idea, youwant it to come to fruition
sooner rather than later, buteverything in its own time, you
(21:10):
know, yeah, and just like you'vehad to be patient, the
community has to be patient aswell.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Including me.
You've had to be patient thecommunity has to be patient as
well, including me.
Yeah, that's one thing that youknow I probably is one of my
strengths is that I do have theability to be patient and kind
of look into the future and say,okay, there's a reason why this
(21:37):
space didn't work out.
You know there's a reason foryou know the timing.
I just can, can visualize thatand and really, if I look back,
some of the spaces that wereally wanted being patient has
paid off, because this is just agreat space.
(22:00):
So my husband's maybe not aspatient as I am, so I've been
trying to just remind him thatyou know there's this is just
we're in this for the long game,right?
We gotta gotta do it right.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Well, the yin and the yang, everything happens for a
reason yes, I'm just glad it'shappening at all so yeah right
and uh, I just want you to giveme a little peek behind the
curtain someday, before youactually open up oh, we'll have
you in.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Uh, you can do a kind of a sneak peek.
We'll let you sample all theflavors and and see the store.
Um, we, we are super excitedabout it and um, yeah, can't
wait to get it.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I'm excited for you and Bob and the kids and the
community at large.
Um it's, it's just great newsfor everybody.
So thanks for bringing this toBoone County, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
With that we'll wrap it up.
I mean, this has been a funconversation with you, Krista,
so thanks for joining me in myvirtual studio today.
Yeah, thanks, the next time wesee each other we'll be in
person.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
That's right, we'll be sampling some custard and ice
.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
You'll use me as a guinea pig, a test dummy.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, I'll probably be like 300, you know, pounds
heavier at that point.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Restraint, restraint, yeah, all right, well, good,
well, with, with.
With that having been said, weare at the end of our
conversation now, so it's timefor us to sign off, and so
Krista say goodbye.
Goodbye for us to sign off, andso Krista say goodbye.
Goodbye Everybody, till nexttime.
This is the Good NeighborPodcast.
So, everyone out there, be goodto your neighbor.
(23:43):
See you on the next edition ofthe Good Neighbor Podcast.
Bye everybody.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast Union.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
To nominate your favorite local businesses to be
featured on the show, go toGNPUnioncom.
That's GNPUnioncom, or call usat 859-651-8330.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, mike Murphy.
Thanks, charlie.
Yes, I am Mike Murphy, host ofthe Good Neighbor Podcast, a
podcast that is introducinglocal business owners and
(00:21):
influencers, movers, shakers andfriends of mine to the
community at large.
So a local business owner thatI have with me today is also a
friend of mine.
Her name is Krista Moore, andKrista Moore is the owner of the
soon-to-be-opened and we'llkind of define what that means
Rita's Italian Ice and FrozenCustard.
(00:45):
Is that correct, krista?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
That is correct.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Okay, good Well, krista, welcome to the podcast
and we're going to just sort ofshare your good happy news with
the community.
I'm sure you know people havekind of heard inklings and seen
heard rumors that Rita's ItalianIce is coming to Boone County
and the rumors are true.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
They are true.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
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 (01:13):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Good to see you again.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
You too.
I want to first of all saycongratulations.
It seems like this is greatnews for the community.
When I saw the news come out onsocial media, there were people
that were kind of interjectingtheir thoughts into the feeds
and I kind of got the impression.
Now let me just say I've neverbeen to a Rita's Italian ice and
(01:39):
frozen custard.
I don't have any history withit, but I'm intrigued because it
almost seems to have a cultlike following around the
country.
If people have lived somewherewhere they had Rita's and then
they came here and they didn'thave Rita's anymore, they're
just doing backflips that Rita'sis coming to Boone County.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
That's true, it does have a following.
It originated up in kind of thenortheast, so around Jersey,
philly, connecticut, so a lot ofEast Coast individuals are
super familiar with it and itdoes have a following.
(02:15):
I think now it's in 30 states,around over 600 locations over
600 locations.
And really we found out aboutRita's.
My mom lived in Florida andevery time we'd go to Florida
(02:36):
there was a Rita's near her inClearwater.
We'd always stop, get a Rita'sand then anyone in my family
that wasn't with us we'd.
I probably have 50 shots of myhand with a Rita's.
We'd take a picture and send itback and everybody would be
jealous of our Rita's stop.
(02:58):
So it's a great product, verycommunity friendly, family
friendly and does have afollowing.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Okay.
Well, if somebody walks into aRita's, if they're not familiar
with Rita's, what type ofexperience are they going to
have?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Well, the kind of the tagline is ice, custard
Happiness.
So that is the experience thatwe hope you will have.
And the Italian ice is not likeyour snow cone ice, it's more
of a sherbet type of ice, butmade of water, natural fruit and
(03:44):
tons of different flavors.
So, and then there's thecustard, which is, you know, a
bit creamier than ice cream.
And you know, one of myfavorites, my family's favorites
and hope to be the community'sfavorites, is a layer of the
Italian ice with the custard, acouple layers, and we call that
(04:07):
a gelati.
So definitely some education.
If you have never been toArita's, come in and try it and
you will soon be a follower.
Just like the comments on theFacebook page.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
So multiple flavors I take it.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Multiple flavors, uh, and the you know Rita's is
really good about um, tryingdifferent things.
I think there's a bomb popgelati 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
(04:54):
different types of treats.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
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 (05:14):
Oh yeah, 100%.
We'll have pretzels and cookiesandwiches, and different types
of lemonades, different icedcoffees, always trying to come
out with some new and creativeseasonal types of items as well.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Okay, so you're not open yet.
We know that there's an openingdate somewhere out there, yet
to be determined.
Do you have sort of an idea oftime of year, what month maybe
you'll be open to?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, Ideally we wanted to be open by end of the
summer, but we've actually beenworking on this project for
close to a year now.
So patience on our part andtiming is everything.
(06:08):
More toward the fall, and justin time for football season,
basketball season, you know,school, back to school, all that
.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
All right.
So, talking about school,you're in Boone County.
I'm just thinking about, youknow, relation to the school and
whatnot.
Where is the location, theBoone County location?
What's the address?
Speaker 2 (06:36):
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 JetsPizza right next to Boone County
High School.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
All right, very close to the high school.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Very close.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
It's occupying a space that used to be Drinkology
, correct.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yeah, drinkology, I think, left the space in May.
We took over the space I thinkit was like June 1 and are in
the process of working withRita's franchise local
architects to really make thespace into a space that is
(07:27):
definitely representative of theRita's brand and experience
when you come in.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Okay.
So you said you you kind ofwould have liked to have opened
up, you know, still withinsummertime, whatnot?
I'm sure there's way more thatgoes into it than meets the eye,
and maybe the process has beenkind of educational for you as
well.
Have you suffered any hiccupsalong the way that, um, that
(07:55):
made you lose sleep at night?
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Um, I mean, anytime you go into, uh, a venture like
this, it's kind of you don'tknow what, you don't know, kind
of thing, Um, you know, I thinkfinding a space was more
challenging than we originallythought.
Um, you know, I think finding aspace was more challenging than
we originally thought.
You know, we really wanted tofind the right space and
(08:21):
location.
We'd actually looked at spacesall throughout northern Kentucky
, as far out, as you know,campbell County, parts of Kenton
, independence and at the end ofthe day, we have rights to two
Rita's franchises and at the endof the day, we really wanted
(08:43):
our first franchise to be in ourcommunity, which is Boone
County.
Our kids went to Boone CountyHigh School.
We've lived in Oak Brook forover 25 years.
It's our home, it's ourcommunity and we wanted to be,
you know, even a bigger part ofthat community as well as give
back.
So finding the space waschallenging and then finding a
(09:06):
space with the drive-thru, wereally got lucky.
Okay, we really got lucky.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Okay, Well, you know, with successful ventures like
this you've got to do it rightin order for it to stick.
You're going through all thehard work so that the community
can enjoy Aritas here locallyinstead of having to go up to
the northeast or down to Floridaor wherever.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
So thank you very much for that.
So you mentioned your familyliving in Oak Brook.
You've got a hubby and threekids, three kids that are older.
I assume you and Bob are emptynesters, or.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Not quite.
Yet we have that, that thirdone that's still here.
It's still hanging on.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
It's kind of a family affair though I mean, I assume
that even if the kids aren'tgoing to be working in the
business, they have a vestedinterest and so you're going to
have all the help you need toget this thing up and running,
other than just you and Bob,correct?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Oh yeah, and really, when we thought about doing this
, we wanted to have somethingthat our kids could be a part of
long term.
We've also invited them to bepart of the conversations with
the franchise them to be part ofthe conversations with the
(10:38):
franchise.
Looking at, you know what ittakes to find the space, and so
they've been, you know, part ofthe process along the way, as
much or as little as they wantto be.
But when we get open, you knowmy husband managed several
Skyline Chili's corporate stores, you know, for several years.
(11:03):
He's since does customerservice management and training.
My two older kids both havebusiness degrees from Northern
Kentucky University.
My youngest has experience infood service and is actually
going to Gateway right now toget her general education
(11:28):
classes and I think she's alsogoing into some type of business
.
So you know it's definitelywill be a family effort with my
younger daughter and my husband.
And then I'm a marketer, by acareer marketer, so I'll be
assisting with the marketing aswell, as our future
(11:49):
daughter-in-law just got hermarketing degree, so I hope to
mentor her as well and, you know, hopefully one of them will
want to open that secondlocation.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
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 realisticallythat second one would be ready
to?
Come to whatever community.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
We definitely want to get this first one up and
running, get it so that everyexperience is as positive of an
experience as it can be.
I mean, I'm sure we'll makesome hiccups here at first while
we're getting started, butquality service, being part of
(12:43):
the community, we'll be doingdelivery, catering as well,
really want to get involved withthe schools and churches, local
community.
Once we kind of get that, I'mthinking we're probably two
years out from the second one.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
You'll know it when you see it.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Yeah, unless there's just a space that comes to us
and we're like, oh my gosh, youknow this is perfect.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
One thing I didn't ask is you know what drew you to
Rita's?
I mean, I know that you've hadexperience personally with
Rita's on, you know, vacationand whatnot, so you're familiar
with the brand.
But there are plenty of thingsthat you could have done.
And what brought you to Redisspecifically?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
There are several things that we looked into.
I looked into personally, youknow some of which were even
more marketing focused, likelarge format printing, and you
know when you look at yourprofessional journey and you
(13:55):
know what's ahead and differentparts and chapters of that
journey you look at, you knowwhat do you want that to look
like?
And you know if you go to theRita's website, some of the
bullet points are a friendlyface made fresh daily and
(14:15):
happiness.
I mean we just really wanted aplace where people can come make
memories, have a few momentsoutside of the crazy world and
just be happy.
I've not seen a whole lot ofpeople that are sad eating
(14:38):
custard, frozen ice and treats.
So the brand itself and thefranchise very solid, very
committed to their franchisees.
So that's really kind of whatdrew us to.
It is doing something a littledifferent, but utilizing our
(15:01):
skills and background at thesame time.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
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 wehaven't talked about yet, that
you want to make sure peopleknow, about Rita's or about your
family, or just in general,that questions that I should be
(15:27):
asking, that I haven't asked youyet?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Wow, that's a good question, that's that's a good
question.
You don't have to have an answerum you know, I, I just think
our family, um, my kids haveplayed sports in this community
since they were old enough totoddle you know, be a toddler
(15:54):
down the soccer field.
It's a place in a communitythat's treated us very well.
We love it here.
My kids still have friendsthey've met in this neighborhood
.
My son's, 29, still hangs outwith his friends that he met
(16:17):
when he was four in thisneighborhood.
So we want to be part of thecommunity.
We want to, you know, welcome.
You know community types oforganizations.
We want to work with you and wewant people to feel like it's a
great place to come.
(16:38):
Um, for a little, pick me up.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, that's um, that's all good talking points
because really you know one ofthe buzzwords in marketing
you're a marketing person youknow it is support, local.
So everything that you havedescribed today is local, local,
yeah, you, your family's beenhere in Oakbrook for 30-ish
years, or like close to 30 yearsmaybe.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
It's been 26.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
All right, so coming up on 30 years, so you're local
and you're you're bringinganother local brand to Boone
County.
Yeah, and so to that point, youknow, part of what comes with
local business is interactionwith the community.
You've kind of described yourvision for, you know, a place
(17:24):
for community to come to enjoy ahappy oasis away from.
You know, life that we're alldealing with every day, but also
with that you know, people youknow in the community may be
excited for Rita's because thatcould be a place that they would
like to work A hundred percent,and we're going to need.
(17:46):
When will you be at that pointwhere you think you'll be
starting to look to?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Yeah, I think we'll be starting that effort,
probably into August, earlySeptember, and we definitely
will need, you know, all kindsof different individuals to work
with us.
We have, you know, probably aneed for a manager.
(18:11):
We need shift leads, ice makers, treat, team members.
So, you know, it's definitelyone thing that I would like for
it to be is a place where youknow people work, they enjoy
(18:32):
coming to work, they feel likethey have a purpose when they
come to work, and it can also bea place where they learn some
good skills and even justprinciples that they can take
with them, you know, as theygrow their career.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Okay.
Well, one of the advantages ofdoing a podcast like this is
anybody out there who might endup having you as a boss someday.
They get to see your smilingface.
I know you well enough to knowthat you're tough, but I also
know that there's a very softside to you as well.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Right, I'm probably too empathetic at times.
It gets in the way.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
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 peoplethat are there in support roles,
and so if you end up being alittle too nice, I don't know,
maybe, maybe Bob could be thehammer.
(19:41):
We'll see, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
I think when you guys start initially, I know Bob and
probably one of the kids willbe most instrumental in getting
this thing up and running and Ithink people will probably want
to know more immediately byrunning to a website or whatever
.
But I think your website isprobably still in development.
Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (20:04):
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
(20:25):
of project plan from everythingto, you know signage, to hiring
, to marketing and that type ofthing.
We'll have a Facebook page.
We'll have, you know, a localportion 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 (20:48):
Well, good, but in the meantime, this has been a
nice teaser for the community.
You know you and your familyhave had to be.
You know you've had to bepatient, yes, Ever since you
know you had the idea.
Just like any great idea, youwant it to come to fruition
sooner rather than later, buteverything in its own time, you
(21:10):
know, yeah, and just like you'vehad to be patient, the
community has to be patient aswell.
Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Including me.
You've had to be patient thecommunity has to be patient as
well, including me.
Yeah, that's one thing that youknow I probably is one of my
strengths is that I do have theability to be patient and kind
of look into the future and say,okay, there's a reason why this
(21:37):
space didn't work out.
You know there's a reason foryou know the timing.
I just can, can visualize thatand and really, if I look back,
some of the spaces that wereally wanted being patient has
paid off, because this is just agreat space.
(22:00):
So my husband's maybe not aspatient as I am, so I've been
trying to just remind him thatyou know there's this is just
we're in this for the long game,right?
We gotta gotta do it right.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Well, the yin and the yang, everything happens for a
reason yes, I'm just glad it'shappening at all so yeah right
and uh, I just want you to giveme a little peek behind the
curtain someday, before youactually open up oh, we'll have
you in.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Uh, you can do a kind of a sneak peek.
We'll let you sample all theflavors and and see the store.
Um, we, we are super excitedabout it and um, yeah, can't
wait to get it.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I'm excited for you and Bob and the kids and the
community at large.
Um it's, it's just great newsfor everybody.
So thanks for bringing this toBoone County, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
With that we'll wrap it up.
I mean, this has been a funconversation with you, Krista,
so thanks for joining me in myvirtual studio today.
Yeah, thanks, the next time wesee each other we'll be in
person.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
That's right, we'll be sampling some custard and ice
.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
You'll use me as a guinea pig, a test dummy.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Yeah, I'll probably be like 300, you know, pounds
heavier at that point.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Restraint, restraint, yeah, all right, well, good,
well, with, with.
With that having been said, weare at the end of our
conversation now, so it's timefor us to sign off, and so
Krista say goodbye.
Goodbye for us to sign off, andso Krista say goodbye.
Goodbye Everybody, till nexttime.
This is the Good NeighborPodcast.
So, everyone out there, be goodto your neighbor.
(23:43):
See you on the next edition ofthe Good Neighbor Podcast.
Bye everybody.
Thanks for listening to theGood Neighbor Podcast Union.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
To nominate your favorite local businesses to be
featured on the show, go toGNPUnioncom.
That's GNPUnioncom, or call usat 859-651-8330.
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