A vibrant scoop
New ice cream to feature bright colors, unusual flavors
Ice cream lovers soon will be able to get (ice) CRMD in the Short North.
CRMD, at 1190 N. High St., is a “Los Angeles-inspired” icecream shop eager to catch the eyes of younger customers. The shop’s slogan is “lick it real good.”
“We wanted to bring the West Coast to the Midwest,” said co-owner Kristina Duong.
Duong and her husband, Benjamin Stoyka, lived in Los Angeles for seven years before returning to their home city of Cleveland. After deciding to open an ice-cream shop in Cleveland but unable to find a location, they turned to Columbus and the Short North.
“It’s definitely not a mom-and-pop ice-cream
shop. It’s more for millennials,” Stoyka said. “All of our ice creams are a bright, different color, definitely something you wouldn’t expect from a traditional ice-cream shop.”
CRMD attracted buzz on Reddit when a user erroneously posted that the ice cream would be $18 a scoop.
In fact, it will cost $4.50 for one scoop, $6 for two and $7 for three. Customers have the choice of a waffle cone or a “puffle,” a spherical shaped waffle made of eggs and featuring small bubbles.
CRMD will sell 12 flavors of ice cream and four sorbets, including a blackcharcoal vanilla, matcha and Vietnamese coffee. Classic flavors also will be available, but they’ll come in bright colors such as orange or purple or blue.
Duong and Stoyka said they contract with Johnson’s Real Ice Cream in Bexley to make the ice cream.
CRMD enters an Benjamin Stoyka, CRMD co-owner
“All of our ice creams are a bright, different color, definitely something you wouldn’t expect from a traditional ice-cream shop.”
increasingly competitive ice cream field in the Short North, which includes Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, 714 N. High St.; United Dairy Farmers, 880 N. High St.; Kilwins, 662 N. High St.; and Simply Rolled Ice Cream, 970 N. High St.
CRMD will be open daily from noon to 2 a.m. The shop’s soft opening is scheduled for Friday and the grand opening will be July 20.
Duong and Stoyka love listening to electronic dance music and said they’re excited to bring that aura to Columbus.
“We are all about peace and love and respect for all and it seems like we’re about that vibe,” Duong said.