GETTING THE SCOOP
New ice cream shop coming to downtown Loveland
A busy corner in downtown Loveland is getting a sweet makeover.
Colorado Springs-based Josh & John’s Ice Cream will open a new location at 501 N. Cleveland Ave. in late May or early June, just in time for the summer fun season.
According to Josh & John’s co-owner Lindsay Keller, expanding into Loveland was an easy decision for the 44-yearold chain.
“We have a soft spot for Northern Colorado,” she said. “And Loveland is such a nice town. When we saw the location, it just felt like a good fit.”
The new Josh & John’s will feature an indoor/outdoor service counter and interior dining area, surrounded by a large patio with seating.
According to Keller, its overall aesthetic will be familiar to patrons of other Josh & John’s locations, but she plans to add some public art and other touches that will make it right at home in Loveland.
Josh & John’s was founded in 1986 by a pair of Boston natives, John Krakauer and Josh Paris, who wanted to share their love of high-quality handcrafted ice cream with the world.
They opened their first shop in Colorado Springs, featuring ice cream churned in-house using all-natural, locally sourced ingredients.
Today, Paris has retired from the business, so Krakauer runs Josh & John’s with Keller, his wife.
There are now four locations, including two more in Colorado Springs and one in Fort Collins. The new Loveland shop will be the first to open since 2020.
The chain’s expansion into Loveland was sparked by Jackson Whelan, who co-owns the building at Fifth Street and Cleveland Avenue.
In 2022, his marketing and design firm, Terrier Tenacity, adopted a remote work policy and vacated the premises.
That left Whelan with an empty building to fill, and what better than an ice cream shop, he decided.
“It was something that downtown was missing,” he said. “It just didn’t make any sense to me that we didn’t have a proper ice cream parlor.”
Whelan started “cold-calling” Colorado-based ice cream chains about potentially leasing the space until he found a receptive audience in Krakauer and Keller.
He then invited them on a tour of the property, and a deal was struck soon after.
“It’s just such a sweet little spot, we couldn’t resist,” Keller said.
Sean Hawkins, executive director of the Loveland Downtown Development Authority, is thrilled about Whelan’s new tenant, and echoed his comments about Josh & John’s filling a “missing” piece of downtown.
He is especially excited about the upgrade it will bring to a “problematic corner” and its potential to spur further development in the area.
“We’re excited about what it’s going to mean for that block,” he said.
“We’re starting to get the good chemistry with the businesses playing off of one another. We’ve got the Cat Cafe, Verboten and Comet Chicken and ice cream just brings it all together. Fifth Street is certainly going through a really nice change.”
Construction is in the early stages for the new Josh & John’s, and the opening date has yet to be finalized.
Keller said the plan is to wrap up sometime in May, but the final schedule has not yet been determined.
To get Loveland residents excited about the new shop, Josh & John’s is offering free $5 certificates to anyone who registers at its website.
Since the offer went live a few weeks ago, response has been robust, according to Keller.
“We’d love for Loveland residents to get free ice cream and come and check us out for the first time,” she said.
“And then hopefully, we’ll have them hooked.”
For more information about Josh & John’s, visit joshandjohns.com.