Popular KC ice cream shop crosses Missouri River with first Northland location
For the first time in Betty Rae’s history, Northlanders can officially get the sweet tastes of the ice cream shop’s scoops of cookie monster, lavender honey, cereal milk and gooey butter cake north of the river.
Betty Rae’s Ice Cream opened its 11th location in the Kansas City metro earlier this month in Liberty, crossing the Missouri River for the first time and accomplishing a years-long dream for owner Matt Shatto.
Bringing Betty Rae’s to the Northland has been a goal for Shatto since he first took over the company in 2023. He grew up on a dairy farm north of Liberty and later attended William Jewell College there, too. It’s a special place for him, and one he’s always wanted to open up shop in.
“I’ve been wanting to get up north for a long time,” he told The Star. “It’s been outstanding.”
The new location at 9711 North Ash Ave. is part of a greater effort to grow Betty Rae’s in recent years. In the three years since Shatto purchased the local company, he’s helped open around eight new storefronts, including a shop in Lee’s Summit and a franchise in Lawrence, which both opened earlier this year. There are also two franchise locations in Omaha, Nebraska, as well.
But opening new stores isn’t just about building the Betty Rae’s name, according to Shatto. It’s about going where people are craving a good scoop of ice cream.
“We follow the customers’ voices,” he said.
And so far, Shatto believes they got it right in Liberty.
“It’s been a tremendous response from the community, and we couldn’t be more happy for it,” he said.
