With summer heat right around the corner, it is important to stay cool. Joy, a new ice cream store, opened on May 13, on the corner of East Second Street and South Washington Street, is helping Moscow community members do just that.
The shop owner, Kat Gunn, is a single mother with three children. She grew up in Louisiana and moved to Moscow four and a half years ago. She worked as a manager in several places and gained managerial work experience before she decided to start her first family-owned business.
Gunn said that her family is the only reason she came to Moscow, and it became an important reason for her to run Joy as well.
“I love my kids, and they are fond of ice cream,” Gunn said. “Also, I want to build up a comfortable ice cream store, like a safe zone, especially for families and kids. An outdoor ice-cream shop, we don”t have it around this area.”
The entrance of this small plaza is made of wooden fence. In front of the fence, several parking spaces are set up for the customers. In addition, it is not a far walk from the downtown area.
Gunn decorated the store in a countryside style. It corresponds to the theme of the plaza. The wooden tables and chairs are all placed on an open ground in front of Joy. A wooden playground stands between Joy and these wooden seats. The customers can enjoy the ice cream, sunshine, blue sky, white clouds, green plants and music while watching their children play.
When it gets too hot out, there are wooden tables with umbrellas for shelter from the sun. Gunn also has some small and colorful wooden tables and chairs as well as some small umbrellas for the children. They can eat ice cream, have fun and make new friends by being in their own vivid zone.
Joy serves many flavors of ice cream, which includes the most common ones and some special ones.
“Salted Carmel and Huckleberry Heaven are the two most popular flavors in our store. They have fresh fruits inside the ice cream,” Gunn said. “We have snow cones, home-made waffle cones and we are excited to see what we come out with next.”
At night, the plaza is surrounded by lights. The small bulbs on the roofs and the top of the plaza embrace Joy in a harmonious and peaceful hug. Such a relaxed, romantic, and joyful circumstance is well-suited for couples and friends to hang out.
“Joy. I want everyone here to be joyful, so I named it Joy,” Gunn said.
Jinrong Lei
can be reached at