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What’s Next for Ripple?

Ripple Owner, Matt Lole, reveals his plans for the business
Erich Bohn, Reporter • March 7, 2025
Erich Bohn
The front desk of the Ripple restaurant, formerly known as JJ Madwell’s, is a temporary feature. A more robust entryway is planned in what Ripple hopes will improve the customer experience and make Ripple a more inviting location for Conifer residents. However, due to issues with permits, Ripple will be focusing on the outside of the building for now. “We might not be able to touch the building this year,” Lole said. “So we are going to be putting most of the money into the patio.”

When JJ Madwell’s closed in July of last year, the building was sold to a small ice cream company called Ripple, which was previously based out of a miniature Volkswagen bus. Since then, Ripple has transitioned from only selling ice cream to also selling pizza. While dining in hasn’t been made available to customers yet, Matt Lole, the owner of Ripple, has been surprised by the support he has received from the local Conifer community. He hopes that this support will help speed up his plans for the renovation of the Ripple building, as well as the introduction of new menu items.

“I went to a pizza school in New York City and I learned the trade and the craft of pizza which is where a lot of our recipes come from, but I would like to offer some more light options like slices, pizza rolls, and calzones,” Lole said.

In the coming months, many new ice cream flavors are in the works, as well as plans for ice cream sandwiches and cookies. In addition to this, a slush machine is being installed. Alongside all of these new menu items are some ideas for increasing the amount of CHS customers. Down the line, Lole also speculates that Ripple may branch out into burgers, but as of right now, nothing has been planned.

“We would like to offer a Conifer High School lunch special with a slice, a cone, and a soda,” Lole said. “We may also offer a discount for CHS students with a Conifer Student ID.”

A concept map of the finished layout of the Ripple building, complete with a wrap-around deck, a game table, an expanded patio, more indoor dining and seating, and a larger kitchen and food preparation area. “We need to build out this building to accommodate what we are offering,” Lole said. “Which is ice cream, pizza, and community.”
(Erich Bohn)

By far the most extensive plans for Ripple involve the building, which Lole hopes to do major renovations to in order to create a community space for Conifer residents. Significant changes that impact the food include proposals for a new pizza oven and to divide the kitchen into an ice cream and pizza kitchen in order to keep the ice cream from melting. Additional plans include a fireplace and better, code-compliant bathrooms.

“The timeline for all of this is going to depend on construction, but we are going to open the doors for in-house dining within weeks, not months,” Lole said.

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