Casimir’s The Sweet Spot opened June 28, just in time to satisfy summer ice cream cravings in Pulaski and neighboring communities.
Located at 759 S. St. Augustine St. in Pulaski, the family-owned and operated shop serves Cedar Crest ice cream, smoothies, soft drinks and a variety of freeze-dried candies.
“This spot sat vacant for about a year and a half,” owner Ben Reiss said. “We were driving to pick up our kids from school, and my wife (Wendy Reiss) said that it would be a great spot for something. And we started to brainstorm around that idea.”
At the time, Wendy Reiss was a traveling nurse, and Ben Reiss was a stay-at-home dad — the parents of four girls.
The couple made an offer on the building, a former dental office, in May 2024. By October, they had secured financing through Bank of Luxemburg, and they closed on the purchase in January.
Their initial plan was to open a coffee café and roastery, with soft serve ice cream.
That plan morphed from coffee to ice cream to meet their dreams of a family-friendly store that would provide options for the teens in Pulaski.
“This is our opportunity to do something that would be central for the kids,” Ben Reiss said.
The store has been busy this summer. The attendance at nearby soccer and baseball fields brought in a lot of customers.
“It was fantastic,” Reiss said. “Now, after baseball and soccer, we’re shifting to school sports starting again, with football and cross-country. We’re really looking to build around the school schedule.”
After deciding on an ice cream shop, they tried to figure out what to pair with ice cream and settled on the candy. Reiss said that the freeze-dried candy was his wife’s idea.
Freeze-drying candy makes it puff and pop and changes its texture. Caramel M&Ms expand to about three to four times the original size, becoming light and airy crunchy puffs. They’re called Caramel Clouds at Casimir’s.
Reiss said that it’s been trial and error to learn the process.
“We’re learning,” he said. “I had a bunch of gummy bears that exploded and glued into the machine. It took six hours to clean.”
Reiss said that plans for the winter months include freeze-dried ice cream, as well as fruit and other items.
In addition to working her current full-time job with a managed care group, Wendy Reiss is instrumental with creating recipes, workflows and the day-to-day operations.
She also inspired the outdoor recreation area.
“Wendy said we need lots of outdoor seating,” Ben Reiss shared. “She was also the inspiration for the yard games, stuff for people to do. That will bring people in. Everybody sits outside. It’s been a lot of fun to watch families.”
Neighbors have said that after watching the empty building for so long, they now enjoy watching families eating ice cream and playing catch and football.
“Our niece Ella Reiss is the assistant manager. We hired about 12 local high schoolers. For a lot of them, this is their first job,” Reiss said.
Reiss noted that the work culture Ella, who hires, trains and manages staff, created is loved by the team.
“We’ve got a group of kids that are all hard-working and really great with customers,” he said.
“Our older two girls have been fantastic. If they aren’t here helping, they are helping at home with their siblings,” Ben Reiss said. “We wouldn’t be here without their help. We’re fortunate.”
The girls are Cameran, 15, Caylee, 13, Frankie, 5, and Ruby, 3.
According to Reiss, Cameran and Caylee have been helping with any recipes and operational suggestions. They also pay attention to the work flow, because they work behind the counter and can offer advice.
Reiss noted that he didn’t see a lot of Cedar Crest ice cream being sold in the surrounding area, so he decided that it would be a good choice for their shop.
He was impressed by their 75 flavors and seasonal selections.
“Out of their 75 flavors, we’ve probably already served 50 this summer,” he said.
Reiss noted that there are some flavors that children gravitate toward, like Playdough and Superman. For the older crowd, some faves include butter pecan and Mackinac Island fudge.
“Pretty quickly, we’ve seen the patterns emerge for who wants what,” Reiss said.
Casimir’s has gluten-free cones and provides an allergen list to help any customers’ special needs.
Casimir’s can be found on Facebook, and Reiss is working on a website. Future plans include an online store for the freeze-dried candy. They will be doing seasonal candy varieties to tie into holidays like Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
The store is named after Casimir Pulaski, a Revolutionary War hero, as a nod to the village itself.
They offer free Wi-Fi and hope that kids and adults will hang around inside during the winter months. They may also offer space for private parties in the future.
“We’re looking at being that family hub, is really what the goal is,” Reiss said. “We’re not a franchise; we’re not rich people.”
He stressed that they are a family, just like his Pulaski neighbors.
“We’re trying to figure out how to raise kids and how to have fun,” Reiss said. “We want this to be a place for families to come, make great memories and have fun.”
