Exploring Life & Business with Curtis Thurston of Summer Salt Ice Cream Company

Today we’d like to introduce you to Curtis Thurston.

Curtis, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have always loved ice cream, even going so far as to duct tape pints of it so that my room mates wouldn’t eat my favorite flavors. My wife and I travelled before settling down in Old Leawood ten years ago and while I am a trained chef, I didn’t want to work at night and miss out on family time so I was always searching for a business and Ice Cream made great sense. When I heard that Mely was selling her space I reached out and after extended negotiations purchased the space in February of 2020.

During that process, I took the Ice Cream Course at the University of Wisconsin (where Ben & Jerry and Jeni of Jeni’s Splendid attended). While opening in a pandemic is not ideal, the walk up window that we installed saved us and we were pretty steady that first year, even though we kept crowds to a minimum and limited our marketing.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say the biggest struggle was the pandemic. Maintaining a safe and sanitized space for our staff to work in and making sure we didn’t attract large crowds. It was tricky for sure.

We’ve been impressed with Summer Salt Ice Cream Company, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are an Ice Cream shop in Corinth Square in Prairie Village. We specialize in homemade ice cream and have many vegan and dairy-free selections.

We have a fun and spacious shop with plenty of outdoor and indoor seating and a walk up window that helps with strollers, dogs and well…a pandemic.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Our Ice Cream is all-natural and made on site. Our staff is friendly and knowledgeable about our product and our space is clean and kid-friendly.

These are the most important parts of our business as we want to be part of the community and for people to return and have a place they can rely on.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @summersalticecreamco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100032867751899

Image Credits
Amy Thurston