Hello everyone! My name is Erick and I started this Gelato adventure a little over a year ago. I opened a unique concept inside of a small coffee shop in the outskirts of the Old Market and had great success serving frozen treats to the wonderful downtown community. By no means has this been an easy expedition with as many hats as I wear, but its been a hell of a lot of fun redefining what Centi is today. All being said, I’ve reached a rough patch in a series of unexpected events and this is no easy ask for me.

To put everything in summary, towards the end of completing Centi’s first year in June 2023 I was asked to relocate. It was no surprise, production was quickly outgrowing the 300sqft space and boxes were starting to plague the workspace. The 2 year plan I needed to apply for a loan was cut short and I began hastily looking for a new home. I searched for the perfect place but our budget was small and nothing remotely came close to what I was looking for. I was leaning towards postponing the reopening indefinitely. In a wild card moment, I was contacted for a space a few blocks away in the heart of downtown, with an irresistible offer, but not without hurdles.

I was enthusiastic about continuing my adventure with the local community but past winter sales history meant we were moving into the least profitable season. The saving grace here being the holidays where we could serve holiday events, the cheerful downtown community, and supply local restaurants. I was reinforced with this success of this idea and that it would be a smooth transition into the new space where the shop was projected to open by September. I was blind with ambition.

Despite anticipating and planning to open late October at worst, I was not expecting to miss the rest of 2023. September flew into November where all my current equipment was completely moved in and I could no longer serve guests. This became chaotic as I started to cherry pick what equipment was to survive purchasing from the original plan and picked up a job at the same time to mitigate losses. December hurt the most. I met major unexpected personal expenses, unable to serve guests or cater events during the holidays, and having COVID for the very first time the last weeks of December, I was unable to even work.

We find ourselves in January with a few months away from warm weather. I’m asking enough to make it until Spring knowing this will work. As I consistently reevaluate the menu, I'm super excited to bring new ideas to the area and meet those that couldn't find us before. I'm hoping to close in on electrical and will start operations at the end of the month after a cleared inspection. It’s not the most fancy looking place right now, or even fully equipped, but we started with a only a gelato machine and a dream a year ago.

*No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe*