Sweet Peaks plans expansion to Texas

Sweet Peaks Ice Cream has announced its plan to open a storefront in Dallas, Texas.

Sweet Peaks was started in Whitefish in 2010 by husband and wife team Sam Dauenhauer and Marissa Keenan. The ice cream company now includes shops in Northwest Montana and Spokane, Washington.

The Dallas shop will be part of the $1.4 billion Grandscape project in The Colony, Texas. The store will be included in the Homestead section of Grandscape which includes a unique consortium of small businesses set in a central community space within the complex.

The storefront will be an independent structure that will continue with the theme of mountain inspired space and ice cream. The scheduled opening is early April of 2020. Simultaneously, Sweet Peaks expects to be opening additional locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Raised in Northwest Montana, Sam Dauenhauer and Marissa Keenan turned their passion for the mountains, food and a love of ice cream into a company that has grown to include stores in Montana and Washington. Year round store locations include shops in Whitefish, Kalispell, Missoula, Bozeman, Montana as well as Spokane.

The company crafts all of their ice cream in a Whitefish and distributes to their in-house managed and operated locations.

The expansion into the Texas market was inspired by an introduction and subsequent conversations between the company founders and mountain and ice cream enthusiasts Joe O’Rourke and Sparky Pearson.

O’Rourke and Pearson, hailing from Dallas, Texas, saw the potential for Sweet Peaks to expand in the Dallas area. Pearson is known for his restaurant group: Radical Hospitality Group, which started with the inception of the LSA Burger Co. in Denton, Texas, and has grown with the development of other unique concepts, including Barley & Board, Earl’s 377 Pizza and Bumbershoot Barbecue. Their desire to help support the company’s growth and mission was met with enthusiasm by Keenan and Dauenhauer.

Growing has been a goal of Sweet Peaks Ice Cream for some time.

“We have been working on our brand and idea for 10 years now.” said Marissa Keenan, owner and partner, “It is our desire to continue to expand our version of happiness in a cone through the Rocky Mountains. A jump into the Texas market with the support of friends is an opportunity we are so excited to explore. This will be a chance for us to partner with other small businesses in the Texas area to create more delicious and creatively inspired ice cream.”

Sweet Peaks Ice Cream shops are designed as community gathering places where guests can explore new ice cream flavors or delight in their standby classic favorites. The company enjoys highlighting the outdoors in their design. A sense of adventure and appreciation for nature is clearly highlighted in their store’s feel and aesthetic. Each shop aspires to be a favorite spot for family, friends and neighbors to meet and share in conversation with an ice cream cone. The store in Grandscape will feature the Sweet Peaks classic flavors which include: salty caramel, cupcake, espresso, chocolate love, Madagascar vanilla, mountain mint, huckleberry and honey cinnamon. The shops rotate through seasonal flavors on a monthly basis and always have a dairy free option available for guests. Sweet Peaks consistently works with local, mountain inspired, and community driven growers, bakers, distillers, brewers and other artisans to craft new seasonal flavors with an edge. The waffle cones are made in house and infuse the stores with the smell of baked sugar. Sweet Peaks merchandise as well as adventure inspired gifts and goods will be available in the store.

The company will hire at least 10 employees for their scooping staff. Applicants are encouraged to visit the company website for available positions and instructions on applying. For additional information on the stores expansion, email info@sweetpeaksicecream.com.