Meet Betty Bremser of Foo’s Fabulous Frozen Custard

Today we’d like to introduce you to Betty Bremser.

Hi Betty, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
My brother, whose nickname is Foo, started Foo’s Fabulous Frozen Custard in 1988.

His wife received an incredible job offer that would take them away from Kansas City. I asked him what he was going to do and he told me, “I dunno. I guess I’ll sell the store.”

I live around the corner, I’m a teacher. I figured, this will be easy; busy in the summer, not so much in the winter (famous last words), and I went to the bank and got a loan. I bought the store in 1996.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been all the usual challenges with owning a business: finding good employees, understanding my clientele, and negotiating leases over the past 26 years. But then there are the ones particular to my business: the summer my custard machine broke(!), the year we had record-breaking snowfall, and, of course, the Covid years.

One year I was told my lease was not being renewed when a new property owner had just bought us. My community rallied around me like no other. I was brought to tears daily with the outpouring of support and love.

I talked to a real estate attorney who led me through negotiation including a complete facelift of my store. I was closed for two and a half months and reopened after too much neighborhood fanfare! It was humbling, to say the least.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Foo’s was the first frozen custard store in Kansas City. When I bought the store I was teaching full-time (I teach French). I still teach, part-time. I have come to understand that owning Foo’s has a two-fold mission: to serve the best tasting and luscious frozen custard in the land and to provide young people with instruction about their first job.

I realized that it was truly an extension of my teaching! I’ve taught for 35 years, so those habits of instruction and guidance come naturally to me. I am friends and remain friends with many, many of my former employees.

I go to their graduations and weddings. I celebrate their wins and I lament their losses. They are my friends. And now, after all these years, they are bringing their kids in to enjoy Foo’s! It’s heartwarming and very, very special.

As far as customers, my very favorite thing is when someone comes in and exclaims something along these lines, “Oh, I’m so glad you’re still here!” or “Whenever I’m home I have to come to Foo’s!” or when something like this happens: a young man came in at the beginning of March and told me his very first trip to Foo’s was on the way home from the hospital; after being born! He was in his mid- 20’s.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts, or blogs that help you do your best?
I’m 63 years old. I’d say all the experiences I’ve had and the way I was raised have made me who I am and taught me how to be in life- All the good, the bad, and everything in between.

If I had to pick a book, it’s The Little Prince, hand’s down. You have to look at life in the big picture way, and the essential is invisible to the eye.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @foosbrookside
• Facebook: Keep Foo’s in Brookside