By: April Lin-Ao
Located along Ooltewah Ringgold Road sits The Spot Creamery, an ice cream shop that
opened in May of this year.
In the building, black-and-white checkered tiles span the floor. Brightly painted canvases
with Bible verses hang along the walls, and a few arcade games sit by the creamery’s entrance.
The ice cream shop has an array of Hershey’s ice cream flavors to offer, along with non-dairy
options and Italian ice.
The Spot Creamery in Collegedale is the second location that owners David and Deedra
Bryant have opened, after their first location in Ringgold, Georgia.
In an interview with the Accent, the Bryants recalled memories of The Spot Creamery’s
roots. In 2018 to 2019, they began a nonprofit organization in Ringgold called The Spot. The
Spot’s mission was to provide a place for the youth of their town to come together and find
community.
“We started the nonprofit because we felt led by the Lord,” Deedra Bryant said.
In the early stages of trying to start The Spot, a donor gave the Bryants a year’s worth of
rent to pay for the space in which The Spot would be operating. The donor had an allotted
amount of money that he wanted to give and had been looking for the right recipient.
“There were lots of obstacles that we would not have gotten through while we were
setting it up without [God] working it all out,” Deedra Bryant explained.
Fast forward a few years to 2022, and the Bryants opened The Spot Creamery in
Ringgold, with the same mission: for people to congregate, connect and find community.
“We had the nonprofit for two years,” said Deedra Bryant. “It became hard to get
volunteers, so then we decided to turn it into a business where the youth could still come and
hang out. That’s when The Spot Creamery came about.”
She explained that a previous ice cream shop had been closed down for some time in
Ringgold, which in part prompted the Bryants to open the creamery.
Bryant also shared her approach to hiring employees for the creamery. She explained that
she wants to give a chance to those starting out, especially teenagers who are looking for work.
Lela Tolbert, a worker at the creamery, said she appreciates her job at The Spot Creamery as a
high schooler.
“It’s pretty good pay for a starting job,” she said. “The atmosphere is really nice.”
Tolbert also described the shop as a cozy area, making it a place for people to come and
hang out at or even read.
Samantha Blackburn, a junior English major at Southern Adventist University, recalled
her experience at the creamery.
“I went with a big group late at night, and there was one person working there,” she said.
“[The creamery] had lots of options with ice cream. I don’t know if they were happy with the
size of the group and the time of night, but I would go again just with a smaller group and not so
late.”
Another student, Caryn Panjaitan, a senior in psychology, described her visit to The Spot
Creamery.
“It was a really cute place,” she said. “It had fun decorations and I liked the vibe of the
place. There were a lot of flavors, and I tried a lot of them. I felt bad because I kept asking the
guy, ‘Oh, I can I have a sample?’”
As The Spot Creamery was being formed, the Bryants said their main intention was to
find community behind their business.
“Just like the Ringgold location, we would like this to be a place where the community
can gather in a peaceful atmosphere and have a treat,” she said.
