Many of us remember March 1, 2014, when Joel and Sarah Oltrogge opened the doors to The Sweet Spot for the first time.

Prior to that day, a tremendous amount of research and planning happened. Sarah had a dream about ice cream in Denver. She was so excited about the idea and took several months researching what it would take. So many times Sarah thought "this will be what stops us" but each time they were met with an open door and a "you can do that".
Both Joel and Sarah grew up in Denver enjoying ice cream from The WeatherVane and noticed how many families would drive to Cedar Falls or Waverly to buy ice cream. If they would do that then it was likely people in surrounding towns would drive here if Denver had a GREAT ice cream spot.

Through high school and grad school, Sarah had worked at The Rite Spot in Denver. The name “The Sweet Spot” is a nod to Sue Steinberg and The Rite Spot.

The current Sweet Spot building was originally built as a gas station and auto shop. An addition was added around 1991 which housed Eugene Traetow Real Estate. The building had 4 separate office spaces which housed other businesses, such as a law office and plumbing business.

Things weren’t always easy when The Sweet Spot first opened. In fact, the first year was very challenging. The Oltrogges made a "family room" in one of the office spaces which had a TV, couch, bathroom, microwave, seating, and refrigerator to help their daughters have a space to hang out while they worked almost every day that season. At the time, the Oltrogge’s daughters were 8 and 10.

In spite of challenging days, there are so many great memories from the past 11 seasons. Sarah has said,
“All of the Sunday evenings when we would look out and see families and friends all over the front yard talking made our hearts warm. All of the relationships with our teenage employees have been precious. We have learned a lot from how to teach better, have patience, how to have hard conversations, and all of the times we have had opportunities to have deep conversations about whatever was going on in their lives. It truly was a practice of "it takes a village to raise a child" and every opportunity we have as adults to teach and encourage the young people in our community impacts them long-term. I remember so many experiences from working at The Rite Spot and how it impacted me in my professional career. Joel also experienced this impact as a young man while working his part-time job at Benders.”

The Oltrogges came up with so many great menu items over the years. They are ice cream lovers, and frequented Dairy Queen and Four Queens often. Their first date was going for ice cream at Four Queens in Waterloo! They were inspired by their favorites and took suggestions from their first round of employees. Some of those early creations include: The Monster Cookie Cyclone (Elizabeth Sheridan), Snicker-Apple Salad (Kai Jenkins), and the Scotch-A-Roo (Jake Besh). 

During the 2024 season, Joel and Sarah came to the realization that they needed more time to focus on family commitments. The difficult decision was made to sell The Sweet Spot. Thankfully, the Oltrogges didn’t have to look far to find a buyer. After many conversations and A LOT of research, Chris and Sabrina Thode became the new owners of The Sweet Spot.

The Thode family moved from Cedar Falls to the Denver area in August of 2013. They have countless memories of bringing their young family to The Sweet Spot often over the years. In the spring of 2022, Sabrina began working at The Sweet Spot as one of the bakers and a fill-in while the high school employees were at school. Over the seasons, her involvement at the ice cream shop increased, and she loved the time she got to spend with the team at The Sweet Spot. When Joel and Sarah approached the Thodes about purchasing the business, it wasn’t hard to decide to jump all in.

The Oltrogges excitedly passed on what they started, and are cheering on the Thode family as they work to grow The Sweet Spot.

The Thodes are working hard to continue to operate The Sweet Spot with the same excitement and creativity the Oltrogges did. 

February 2026 marked the beginning of The Sweet Spot’s 13th season in Denver, with many more to come!