At the time, Phil Kring was working at the Bluegrass Army Depot. He balanced his time handling and destroying some of the most dangerous weapons on the planet by serving out what is arguably mankind’ s favorite treat. He’ s aware of the sense of poetry in that.
“ The way my schedule worked at the Depot, I would have a week off every month. So I started kind of driving through neighborhoods here in Richmond to see how it would do. And it did really well. We started doing a lot of business like that and developing a name for ourselves. We did that around 5 years,” Phil Kring said.“ We knew that my job at the Depot was ending this year. My last day was March 19 this year.”
The Kring Family decided that they did not want to leave Richmond when Phil’ s time at the Bluegrass Army Depot came to an end. So they took the chance to open up their own ice cream shop in town. Last Fall, Phil began remodeling the building on Water Street whenever he had time. While Elizabeth designed the vibrant pink and white color scheme and general throwback aesthetic of the building. The shop officially opened shortly after Phil’ s job at the Depot came to an end. He says the reception in town has been positive.
“ The community has welcomed us in. We try to create an environment where it’ s not just going to get ice cream. We’ ve got the music. We make the waffle cones in house, so you smell them when you walk in the door. You smell the skillet cookies and hot fudge cakes being made. My wife really chose the aesthetics in here to have that old school vibe. And the community has responded wonderfully,” Phil Kring said.
While they make many items in house, Poppy’ s currently gets their ice cream from a company called the Chocolate Shop. The Madison, Wisconsin based ice cream shop ships their product down to Poppy’ s and other ice cream shops across the planet. They make their ice cream with a higher butter fat content which gives it a creamier and richer flavor. The Chocolate Shop is very selective about who can carry their ice cream.
S’ mores, Fat Elvis( peanut butter and banana), and the Exhausted Parent( bourbon espresso) are some of the most popular flavors offered at Poppy’ s among adults. While Me-Want-Cookie( a special blend of various types of cookies) and Superman are the most popular ice creams for kids there. Several vegan items are also put up on the menu every week.
Poppy’ s Ice Cream is located in downtown Richmond at
220 Water Street.