Year 3 Highlights

MELT turns three today! A lot has happened since we last celebrated a birthday for this little sunshine shop of ours, and we wanted to reflect on some of the high points. So here's a round up of just a few of our favorite moments from MELT's third year.

The Move

On July 1st, we finally made the finishing touches to MELT 2.0, and made  the move from our tiny Rosedale space to the Magnolia beauty we now call home. We had an amazing weekend of parties to commemorate the occasion, complete with appearances from The Photo Wagon and HD Vinyl and HiFi. We had record crowds, incredible new flavors, and more fun than we had ever dreamed possible. 

Christmas in July

Christmas in July is a MELT staple. Every year, we deck ourselves and our shop out in Christmas cheer, blast carols, and make our favorite festive ice creams. But this year, we got everyone else to join in too. So many Southside businesses joined in, from Bentley's to Funkytown to Ellerbe. We get so excited watching this tradition grow every year! 

Cocoa and Carols

If Christmas in July is our long standing, out of season Christmas celebration, then Cocoa and Carols is our newly created, well timed Christmas celebration. For the first time but definitely not the last, we made a ton of hot chocolate, got some friends to bring their instruments, and invited you all to join us to sing Christmas carols. It just happened to be the coldest day of the year, but it didn't stop us from partying, or you from packing our patio. You're all welcome back next year! 

TV Stars

December also saw MELT featured on the Cooking Channel, and our taco sundaes and happy faces were seen by ice cream lovers all over the country. It was a huge honor and a big moment and we're still pretty happy about it. Hit this link to see the full episode! 

The Boozy Series

Through the months of January and February, we partnered with some of our favorite craft beverage friends to make a stellar lineup of alcohol inspired ice creams. We joined forces with Rahr & Sons, Collective Brewing Project, Firestone & Robertson's, Kent & Co, and Hopfusion AleWorks to make mind blowing Saturday specials. 

Non-Profit Partners

We've partnered up with our friends at the NET for this whole year, and we are loving getting to join them for serve days and contribute all we can to their cause of loving Fort Worth friends who are experiencing homelessness. As a bonus, if you want to get in the action, we are currently taking donations of bug spray, flashlights, and new adult shoes to send to them! Just bring them by our shop! 

MELT's third year was a non stop adventure, and we could not be more proud of all that's happened. Every scoop served and every smile created has been an absolute joy. Can't wait to see what's next! 

Moving MELT

For any of y'all who've been paying close attention lately, you know about MELT 2.0. You know we've been creating murals, filling up windows, and painting things yellow (along with some other less fun, less pretty jobs) in our new building for six months now. It's been a hard, complicated journey. We've learned more about permits and codes and power tools than we ever knew would be necessary, but none of that stress or frustration has been enough to dim our enthusiasm. We knew it would more than some sweat and a few bruises to make us stop believing in this little shop of ours. In fact, with every hour we put in, it just became more and more apparent how incredible this place was bound to be. 

So with all of that, you can only imagine how much joy we are experiencing RIGHT THIS SECOND about announcing that the day we've been dreaming of and working towards for so long is so, SO close. Sunday at 9 PM, our Rosedale shop served its last customer and made its last cone. Sure, that's a cause for some mourning and nostalgia. Our Rosedale shop has been nothing short of amazing, in all its quirky, fragile smallness, and we've had some epic parties there. But don't dwell on that for too long, because THE BEST IS YET TO COME. We will be closed from the 27th through the 30th. Don't be fooled into thinking the MELT team will be getting any more sleep than usual during those days. On the contrary, our closed doors will hide a joyful scurry of preparation, making sure that every little thing is set up and ready to go in the new building, before, at 12:00 PM on July first (The very first day of National Ice Cream month), we will open up our Magnolia building for its big debut. 

We hope you will all join us promptly as we open, so we can introduce MELT 2.0 to as many smiling faces as we can as quickly as possible. That night we'll be joined by The Photo Wagon  from 6pm-10pm, and on Saturday night our friends at HD Vinyl & HiFi will come hang to spin some sweet tunes from 6pm-10pm. It'll be a celebration that you won't want to miss. Please join us in our newest adventure!! It's a big day, and we can't think of anyone we'd rather share it with than all of our faithful party people.

Birthday Surprises, Part 2

As we said in our last post, our second birthday was celebrated in standard MELT fashion, with cake and joy and all the pretty yellow things. But we wanted to make sure you guys were a part of the party too. MELT is just as much about y'all as it is about us. So we asked if you would be willing to share some of your favorite MELT moments with us, and y'all came through, with heart warming, smile inducing stories of sincerity. Here are a few of our favorites!

From @elenaemcmurry on Instagram:

"Melt served as a very bright spot after our precious son's many visits to the hematology/oncology clinic at Cook Children's last year. We have been coming since you've opened, and he's so happy to be coming again, without a face mask! Blessings on your continued growth and success!"

From Amy Stafford Georgopoulos on Facebook:

 "I absolutely love Melt for a few reasons. I'm allergic to dairy and it is awesome to have such delicious dairy-free/vegan options! Your use of locally sourced ingredients makes me happy. And every single employee of Melt on every visit has always been friendly and greeted me and my loved ones with a smile. Here's to many MANY more years of success for Melt!"

From Carly Jackson on Facebook: 

"My fiancé made a scavenger hunt for our engagement and one of our stops was Melt! We then went back after we'd gotten engaged. Such a special night!! We love Melt!!"

From @thewillwright on Instagram:

"My grandma moved here from OKC because it was time for her to be near her kids and grandkids. She left, however, her best friend and recently widowed sister in law. When here sis in law came to visit they didn't want the night to end after dinner so I took them to MELT and on an old homes tour of Fort Worth. They both sat in the backseat and giggled like little school girls the whole time. Thanks for being a part of our family time."

From Alex Branch on Facebook:

 "I can get my preschooler to do anything if I promise Melt afterward."

From Melissa Jackson on Facebook:

"My boyfriend found Melt and took me there for Valentine's Day 2015. You let me have ice cream again after I had to give up dairy. Even if your vegan flavors get weird at times, I can eat them, and I am so grateful for that."

All these stories, among so many more, motivate every day of work we do. By making us a part of everyday life, holiday celebrations, and family memories, you fill up every cone with love and reinforce our belief that this shop is special. We could never thank you enough for that! Let's create more stories together this year!

Birthday Surprises, Part 1

MELT's second birthday came and went on the 19th, and for anybody who was around for our first birthday, you may have noticed that this year was a bit low key in comparison. We're saving 2016's big, blowout bash for the opening of MELT 2.0, so there were no on-site t-shirt printings or menus full of specials last week. But, if you know anything about the MELT team, you know we love a party. And our scoopers, shift-leads, chefs, and managers couldn't just let this big day slide by without making sure it was properly recognized. So, without the knowledge of our esteemed owners, we started to plan.  All of that culminated when, last Monday night, Kari and Mark were lured to the shop for what they thought was a meeting, but ended up being a party, honoring both them and their newly two year old business. 

In addition to the party, the team also put together a little project called Mark and Kari's Super Cool Coupon Book. We know that running a couple businesses and doing construction on a shop probably takes a just a little bit of time, so we gave them some options of chores we could take off their plate, like dog walking, grocery shopping, car washing, the works. 

Of course, we also had to have some awesome food, so there was homemade cake and hummus, as well as La Croix and mimosas. The shop was decorated, with yellow and white everywhere. We had flowers. It was pretty great, y'all. We had an awesome time just eating and talking, reminiscing over our favorite moments from the last two years and sharing excitement for the future.

We are so grateful to have been a part of each other's lives for the past couple years, and just as grateful to have been a part of our customer's lives! You guys have made every day possible, and added so much joy and community to all that we do! We can't wait to see where Year 3 takes us!! 

2015 in Review: MELT's Top Ten

Together, we've done some pretty sweet things this year. We have grown and partied and laughed on a whole new level, and while every day was great, there were a few that were especially big to us. So, here is a list of some of the ice cream parties we will never forget: MELT's Top Ten.

1. Fort Worth Funky

In March, we had the honor of being featured on Fort Worth Funky. They took some time to sit down and listen to our story, and then made this video highlighting all everything at the core of who we are. 

2. MELT's First Birthday

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April was our birthday month, and we made sure to party all the way through. We took donations for The Birthday Party Project throughout the month, and some of our team members even got a chance to volunteer at one of their events! The weeks before our birthday brought some special celebration for staff and regulars, and day of, we threw ourselves a birthday bash to remember. We had some custom printed t-shirts made on-site by Trust Printshop, we turned our menu into a Greatest Hits playlist of our best loved flavors, we invited you all, and you all showed up. 

3. Fort Worth Magazine

May brought us the honor or being chosen by you as Fort Worth's Best Frozen treat, and being chosen by Fort Worth Magazine as their cover for the month. It was so fun to hear that you guys love what we do as much as we love doing it!

4. Oak Cliff Pop Up

We spent our summer weekends with our Dallas friends, slinging scoops out of a corner of an urban farmer's market in Oak Cliff. It may just have been a quick, few month long pop-up, but the people we met and the celebrations we had while there have absolutely stuck with us.

5. Christmas in July

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Last year, we celebrated the hallowed day of Christmas in July all on our own. And it was awesome day. But this year, our good friends over at Brewed joined in, and we got to tack on a Christmas Eve celebration as well. There were elves, special Christmas flavors, and an ugly sweater contest. The day was merry and bright and HOT and sort of the best ever.

6. Fit Worth

Remember that crazy time when the Mayor personally escorted 150 bikers to our shop? On a legendary July day, Mayor Price's Fit Worth Initiative invited people to take a ride through Fort Worth and end up on our front door for a well deserved cone.

7. Co-Owner Mark

This summer, MELT gained an awesome new full time team member in Mark Seher. He's always been a big part of MELT as our Founder Kari's husband, filling many roles and fixing many broken appliances. But, when he quit his day job to be our co-owner and CFO, we all got to find out just how great he really is. His hard work and insights have been a huge part of MELT's success this year, and we're pretty glad to have him around.

7. Elle Magazine

In October, MELT got its first national write up, in this great article by Elle Decor. We were super excited to be recognized, and just as excited to see other amazing DFW spots right there with us!

9. Tribe Alive

In November, we launched a new line of retail alongside some very passionate people. Tribe Alive works through ethically sourced fashion to provide jobs for women living in impoverished countries. The products they created for our line provided a full week's worth of work for artisans in Haiti, and as a bonus, are also completely gorgeous. We launched our online store so we could showcase these beautiful items (as well as our other great retail products) and so you could all experience them for yourselves.

10. Motor Sisters

December launched what was undoubtedly our biggest adventure of the year. Motor Sisters Ice Cream, MELT's sister shop in Dallas, served her first cone December 4th, and has been dishing out some sweet tricked-up cones, sundaes, and shakes ever since. We've loved adding this place and these people to our family.

This year has brought a lot of new, joyful experiences our way. We are so grateful for all of the love and laughter we have had, and so excited to know that this is only the beginning! 2016 will be bigger, brighter, and sweeter in every way. We hope you will join us!

MELT's 2015 Family Christmas Extravaganza

As previously discussed on this blog, the MELT Team loves to party together. And the holidays are a perfect excuse to have more celebrations than ever. So earlier this week, we got together to make some memories and some laughter, and in the spirit of everything we hope to stand for, tried to give back a little in the process.

Through a local Angel Tree drive, we got the names of five worthy children to buy Christmas presents for, and then threw in some healthy competition along the way. While shopping for the Angel Tree presents, two teams of MELT ladies raced to get through a long list of tasks and bring back photo proof of their completion. These assignments included (but were not limited to)-

Giving hugs to strangers and stuffed animals alike,

getting in a quick work out,

requesting piggy back rides from random shoppers,

dressing up in holiday cheer,

and showing their true feelings for brand name ice cream.

After both the present hunt and the scavenger hunt were completed, everyone returned to the shop. We wrapped up our presents, ate take out from Cannon Chinese Kitchen, and reminisced (with a whole lot of laughter) about the amazing, joyful, cone filled year we got to have together. 

Parties, good food, and helping others are what we specialize in, and we want to see these passions play out when we are with customers and when we are with each other, both while we are open and after hours. The MELT Team truly is a family of people who are all in love with the ice cream and community this shop has fostered, and every one of you who has come in during the past one year and eight months have been a wonderful part of that. So Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, thank you for making 2015 amazing. We hope you all are having as great of a time with friends and family this week as we had with each other a few nights ago. 

P.S. A special thank you goes out to Target for letting us run around acting crazy in their store. Couldn't have done it without you.

The Scoopers that Craft Together...

The 1st Annual MELT Fall Family picnic is in the books, and it was a beautiful night of chili, laughter, pumpkin painting, and celebration! We love being a team that parties together, and we love how our enjoyment of each other makes us even better at partying with you guys! 

Birthday

Did you know we celebrated our first Birthday this past weekend?!  We had a smashing time with you guys. Thanks for making it great despite the rain/hurricane!!!