Beth Richardson and Philip Enlow’s company, Spotz Gelato, has never been limited by location.
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Beth Richardson owner of Spotz Gelato a charming vintage food truck that offers handcrafted small batch gelato and sorbet at weddings all over Kentucky. Kentucky Wedding Vendor Blog Photo by: Kevin and Anna Photography www.kevinandannaweddings.com
That’s one benefit of being in the food truck business. Their fleet of seven pink gelato trucks covers a circuit of more than 150 public and private events throughout Louisville, Lexington and northern Kentucky over a 28-week season each year.
In the colder months, when they have taken respite in the little beach town of Las Peñitas, Nicaragua, the husband-and-wife team has even taken the gelato business with them, opening a satellite storefront off the front porch of their vacation home in 2017.
But when Enlow, a Lexington native, first talked about opening a brick-and-mortar gelato shop in his hometown, Richardson, who originally hails from Louisville, had been ambivalent. “I never thought I’d open a [retail] store in Kentucky, really,” Richardson said.
That was before the couple found a perfect spot on Court Street in downtown Versailles, and then another ideal site on Main Street in Georgetown last spring. And, after Enlow drove past the former Clawdaddy’s location on Broadway in Lexington and noticed a “for rent” sign a few months back, it wasn’t long before the downtown shop was sporting Spotz’ signature bright pink and polka-dotted makeover. The new Lexington shop opened its doors in September.
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“If we were going to be in Lexington, I wanted to be downtown, to take advantage of the convention center and Rupp Arena and all of the great things that are going on here,” Richardson said. “Plus, I like it downtown. It’s been a good model for both of our other stores.”
Spotz specializes in handcrafted, small-batch gelato varieties made from locally sourced ingredients whenever available, Richardson said. The couple’s interest in local food started after they bought a small hobby farm in Scott County at auction. They didn’t know anything about farming at the time, Richardson said, but the experience introduced them to a network of farming friends and a cornucopia of locally grown produce they hadn’t known about before. They leveraged those relationships into a consistent local supplier network for their gelato business, she added.
Popular gelato flavors at Spotz include cookies and cream, which Richardson said is the company’s best seller, and banana pudding, a gelato incarnation refashioned from one of Richardson’s own family recipes. Their pink cones are made in-house daily, along with their cookies.
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Richardson said they will be introducing a new Wildcat flavor at the Lexington store—a cream cheese-based gelato with blueberries—in honor of the University of Kentucky mascot. They plan to add a new gelato nachos dish to their menu as well, with pink tortilla-shaped cone pieces covered with gelato and traditional ice cream toppings.
The store’s colorful aesthetic and branding springs from Richardson’s imagination, while Enlow handles all the construction and hands-on technical work needed to bring her wild ideas to life, she said.
“I come up with the crazy, and he pulls it off,” she said. “It’s good to have someone like that.”
But after building brand awareness across the region with their eye-catching trucks, why did they first choose to set up shop in the smaller markets of Versailles and Georgetown?
“We saw a need in these smaller towns; that was the No. 1 thing,” Richardson said. “We liked the downtown vibe—the historic buildings and the downtown charm. We wanted to be a part of towns that had that going on, or the hope that it was beginning.”
Each of their locations is made to suit its own downtown community, she said. The Court Street location in Versailles even has a walk-up window with its own doorbell to take advantage of the town’s growing foot traffic. “It’s great on summer nights to see families on the steps of the old church, and everyone’s eating gelato,” she said.
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They see that same energy around their new Lexington store on Broadway, she said.
“I’m really pleased that there are so many things happening here up on Short Street, with restaurants going in—and staying. That’s the big thing,” she said.
Richardson and Enlow plan to put their Nicaraguan store and their annual travel routine on hiatus for a bit in order to keep their new Lexington shop open year-round, serving University of Kentucky basketball fans and other downtown visitors. The Lexington store is open from noon to 9 p.m. seven days a week. The Georgetown and Versailles scoop shops will stay open year-round for now as well, she said.
“Have in the back of your mind this big idea—the big dream—and then keep your eyes open for when opportunity presents itself." —Beth Richardson
And as for any further expansion plans, Richardson said time will tell. The couple is always on the lookout for the next right move.
“Have in the back of your mind this big idea—the big dream—and then keep your eyes open for when opportunity presents itself,” she said. “And go with your gut. So far, that’s worked for us in each of our locations.”
“It’s been a learning curve in every town, but that’s what keeps it fun,” she added. “I like a good challenge.”