When someone visits Denton for the first time, the iconic Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream parlor is always one of the top recommendations locals refer to.
Beth Marie’s is currently owned and operated by Bob Moses, Ken Willis and Pat Engelbrecht. Since the ice cream shop first opened in 1998 and acquired by the current owners in 2003, they have not only successfully run Beth Marie's Ltd., but they’ve also expanded the ice cream shop to multiple locations in North Texas.
This year in 2023, they celebrate 25 successful years in business. But they have hit more than an anniversary milestone — they’re making big moves to expand the “taste of Denton” to new heights.
Expanding Operations
Since opening, Beth Marie’s has seen positive growth year after year because of the top tier quality of their creamy creations. While most other ice cream shops bring in frozen cream to produce their flavors (which alters the taste), Beth Marie’s has always brought in fresh cream.
After outgrowing their tiny office and production area within the building on the Denton Square (where the original and current Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream parlor resides), they have found the perfect location less than a mile away from the Denton Square that can be used as dedicated building to scale their productions and business operations. This allows the Denton Square ice cream shop to focus on serving delicious ice cream to a flock of customers each day, while they do operations in a separate space.
This new production spot will help them to achieve an ambitious goal — franchising Beth Marie’s — and allow this Denton original staple to be served all over Texas (and eventually the United States). While they’re already in many Central Market grocery stores, they hope to expand their presence in more grocery stores. Some restaurants and hotels also carry Beth Marie’s ice cream.
They currently have 2 delivery trucks, and can deliver all the way to Round Rock, Texas.
Beth Marie’s also caters for events, weddings, church socials, etc. and they have a party room at the Unicorn Lake location in Denton, where they host many birthdays and business meetings.
But people have found that Beth Marie’s Ice Cream isn't just for the cone. The owners are getting more innovative with creating some flavors designed specifically to pair well with (or inside) of alcoholic beverages, to use as a marinade or coating for meats while grilling, and much more.
B2B Collaborations
The owners have also started doing collaborations and promotional partnerships with fellow local businesses. In July, in honor of National Ice Cream month, they were approached by BCI Mechanical to do an ice cream giveaway.
They partner a lot with local colleges, especially UNT — including serving ice cream at the UNT events like Freshman Orientation and UNT’s DATCU Stadium (formerly Apogee).
The City of Denton Manager even collaborated with Beth Marie’s to create the 25th anniversary flavor, North of Ordinary.
Community Involvement & Beyond
Being actively involved and giving back to the community has always been (and continues to be) an extremely important mission for the Beth Marie’s brand. Bob Moses is a member of the Denton Noon Rotary Club and Ken Willis is a member of the Denton Kiwanis.
Beth Marie’s also donates back to many causes, including donating to Serve Denton, being part of a volunteer mentorship program, doing talks about business at local schools and libraries for Career Day, and fundraisers for many youth-related charities including North Texas Overdose Awareness Day. Last year they were able to raise over $45,000 for local organizations — and Bob says this year, they’re already on their way to surpassing that.
Every year in February, they do a Beth Marie’s Love Story Contest for an ice cream giveaway, where they get tons of submissions each time because of all the first dates and proposals that happen with Beth Marie’s Ice Cream! They have even catered weddings, which they can custom combine the bride and groom’s favorite Beth Marie’s ice cream flavors into one ice cream for a special treat to serve wedding guests.
They continue to put a footprint into the ice cream industry as members of the National Ice Cream Retailers Association. They are also registered as a Texas Made product.
Looking Forward to the Future
As they celebrate Beth Marie's 25th Anniversary, they have won the Best of Denton award for "Best Frozen Treat" the past 25 years in a row! They also won “Best Customer Service” in 2023!
They look forward to the next 25 years of being in the community, partnering with local businesses and bringing smiles to faces because “ice cream makes you smile.”
Author: Courtney Stucky | Aspiro Agency