Downtown dessert shop Gelato Mio will close Friday after two years in business, and its owners are looking for a buyer.
Husband-and-wife owners Andy and Chantal Drennen are planning to open the shop for the last time 1-10 p.m. Friday during First Friday Art Walk. "We're just going to open on Friday and give everybody their last chance to come in and have gelato, at least under our ownership," Andy Drennen said.
Drennen, who works as a financial planner with Allstate, said he and his wife, who works in public relations with Integrity Home Care, decided to sell the store because the time commitment is too high.
"We both have full-time jobs right now, and it's just gotten too much to try to do those and run the restaurant all the time," Drennen said. "We're working 14-hour days, and it just got to be a little too much."
Drennen, who declined to disclose how much the couple is asking for Gelato Mio, said the eatery hasn't been listed, but there have been interested potential buyers. A buyer would take over the lease at 207 Park Central East.
"They can do what they like with it, but we'd like to keep the legacy going," Drennen said. "We feel we've created something unique and nice for downtown, and we'd like that to be able to continue."
Drennen said he didn't have a prediction for when the restaurant might sell, but he said the decision was made to sell it during the summer because the eatery is at its peak during hotter months.
"Now is the time to rake in some cash flow," he said.
Drennen said Gelato Mio in January pulled out of Harter House locations in Springfield, and in December, he exited the partnership behind The Flying Tomato, an Italian restaurant across the street from Gelato Mio that Drennen started with Trolley's owner Ryan MacDonald and Ozark-based Paolo's Pasta and Grill chef Paul Pentecost. "They let me leave that agreement. There wasn't a financial loss," Drennen said, noting MacDonald and Pentecost now run the restaurant.
Drennen said the decision to close Gelato Mio is unrelated to his public reaction to Skepticon, an annual skeptics convention held in November at the Gillioz Theatre near Gelato Mio.
During the event, Drennen posted a sign saying,"Skepticon is not welcomed to my Christian business," following anti-Christian remarks he said he heard while checking out the convention. The move led to several
unfavorable reviews on Google and other restaurant review sites.
Drennen later wrote an
online apology, which he said went a long way toward mending the situation.
"Within about a week, I had support from the Christian community and the founders of Skeption. Once people read everything (about what) I saw, then they understood," he said. "If anything, our business went up as a result. Our Web site hit 108 countries."
