Betty Rae's Ice Cream serves up new shop in Lee’s Summit, with more on the way
When Matt Shatto purchased Betty Rae’s Ice Cream, the beloved Kansas City brand, he said he planned to do “anything and everything” to bring its ice cream to everyone in the area that wanted it.
The growth has continued steadily since his purchase in 2023.
“We’ll look to see if we can make money once we stop growing,” he said with a chuckle Friday. “The fact of the matter is we’re trying to do everything we can to get to as many people as we can.”
The company opened its 12th store to the public Friday in a Lee’s Summit shopping center near the Highway 50-Todd George Parkway interchange. The new store, at 1636 SE Blue Parkway, is the company’s second in Lee’s Summit.
“The parking lot is always packed,” Shatto said. “We have a great group of customers that have already stopped in and are excited for us to open. We couldn’t be more excited about having our second location in Lee’s Summit.”
The store will hold a grand opening celebration on Feb. 6 and will offer free ice cream to high school students with a school ID the following Monday, Feb. 9.
“Kansas City is home for me, and so I’ve got a lot of good friends that live here in Lee’s Summit,” Shatto said. “We want to be seen as great partners.”
The brand’s 13th shop, a franchise location, is expected to open in Lawrence in February, and a 14th store will soon open in Liberty. The brand has shops across the metro, has a pair of franchise locations in Omaha, Nebraska, and is carried in grocery stores locally.
Ice cream is produced at the brand’s commissary-retail location in Merriam, and the space’s ice cream machines keep up with producing enough product for eager customers in the area. Soon the Omaha locations will begin to produce their own product under the brand’s guidance, as will the Lawrence location when it opens, Shatto said.
“I think we have a few more shops in us here in the metro,” he said. “And then the question really becomes, what do we want to be when we grow up? Do we want to go beyond here or do we not? Time will tell.”
