Lilo’s Shaved Ice & Soda has opened for their first season in the parking lot of Aldi’s grocery store located at 8300 N. Oxford in the Northland.
Married couple, Matt and Angela Muir, decided to open their new shaved ice and soda stand this summer when the small shed that they thought Matt was going to have to build from scratch, was discovered out on a farm in great condition and for sale at the right price.
“It was something that we had been talking about doing since last summer, as we have fairly flexible schedules right now,” say Angela. “Matt is a dental student at UMKC and I am a Mom and work on Handmade in the Heartland, my blog.”
The name for their new shaved ice and soda stand came from their families’ favorite Disney character from Lilo & Stitch, who also happens to love Hawaiian shaved ice.
Although they have hired help for the summer, but the couple plans to run Lilo’s as a team effort.
“Matt is great with the paperwork, mechanical and technical side of the business, and I love the creative, marketing and social media side of things,” she says.
The two were inspired to serve shaved ice by the frozen treats known as “stuffed snowballs.” They are traditionally a southern summer staple, particularly in New Orleans, that puts creamy ice cream in the middle of a cup of flavored finely shaved ice.
Lilo’s will sell both regular or stuffed shaved ice, offering all the traditional favorite flavors, including the popular Tiger’s Blood. Additionally, they are making “twisted” sodas, which are unique drinks made with your favorite brand of soda, dialed up with syrups that Angela makes from scratch, then dressed up with your choice of a squeeze of citrus, a dash of cream or a dollop of ice cream.
“I am going to be making my own syrups that we will use in the sodas, and to start we will offer coconut, vanilla, pineapple, strawberry, grape, mango and peach,” she says. “Later this summer, I plan to add some seasonal flavors like strawberry basil.”
As part of her marketing plan, Angela plans to bake a different cookie each week, that they will have available only on Tuesdays, to drive early week traffic to the stand. Other marketing initiatives include social media special deals and free treats to those who post the best pictures of their Lilo’s specialties online and tag Lilo’s.
In July, she plans to add a “text-ahead” carhop service where you can text your order in ahead of time and they will have it ready when you pull up and deliver it to your car, and she says she will also start catering her handmade sodas and cookies for birthdays, weddings or corporate events.
“We are not planning for this to be just a seasonal business for us, we eventually would like to get a permanent storefront for Lilo’s, but right now we are just focused on getting through our first successful summer,” she said.
After Friday, Lilo’s regular hours will be Monday-Saturday 3 pm – 10 pm.
Lilo’s Shaved Ice & Soda, 8300 N. Oxford Street, Kansas City, Missouri, (801) 499-1637, facebook.com/pg/LilosShavedIce
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