After more than a year of combing the newspaper for a business opportunity, Richie and Jessica Bishop found their entrepreneurial spirit at one of their favorite dessert places - turning a business venture into sweet success.
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The couple own what's been their favorite sweet spots, including the one where they dreamed of opening a store of their own.
The Oklahoma City couple took over ownership of Edmond's Marble Slab Creamery in 2004 and now have five locations, with plans for more.
Before the Bishops began serving cones to customers, they were regular Marble Slab customers, frequenting the Norman store. At one point, Richie Bishop, a chemist at Oklahoma City's Allergy Laboratories Inc., contacted Marble Slab about opening a franchise in Bricktown.
"I love my job, but I was looking for something fun on the side, he said.
When Bishop contacted the Houston-based ice cream company, he learned that a store for Bricktown was already in the works.
But that did not freeze the couple's chance nor desire to own one.
So when the Bishops saw the Edmond Marble Slab Creamery was for sale, they did not hesitate to buy the operation, and in October the previous Edmond owner also sold them his Norman, Tulsa and Bricktown stores.
Richie and Jessica Bishop opened their fifth location in August in south Oklahoma City.
"I went from one to two in less than a year and then from two to five, Richie Bishop said.
Jessica Bishop is not surprised at how fast her husband has been able to grow the business.
"He's a hard worker, she said. "He deserves everything he gets.
The south Oklahoma City Marble Slab at 10400 S Western is the Bishops' first store they opened since acquiring the other stores in the state. Richie Bishop said he always knew he eventually wanted to open a location on the south side, but he wasn't sure how the store would do compared to the others.
He said P.B. Odom III, owner and developer of the new Palagio shopping center that houses the Marble Slab, told him the south side store would do better than the Norman location.
Richie Bishop was a little skeptical, but customers soon proved there was no need for that.
"For a while we were the only ones (in the Palagio), Richie Bishop said. "The parking lot would be full. People would ask what else is here and I'd say, Nothing, just us.'
Although he doesn't plan on leaving his day job as a chemist, Bishop said he does have plans to open a couple more Marble Slabs. One should be in Stillwater by the end of the summer. Plans also involve establishing shops in north Oklahoma City and along the Riverwalk in Moore.
And their entrepreneurial urges might not end with ice cream.
"Who knows beyond that, Richie Bishop said. "I wouldn't rule out going into full-service restaurants.
For now, though, Richie Bishop is concentrating on Marble Slab, a venture he said comes with many rewards.
"Everybody's your friend when you are the ice cream man, he said.
