The smell of fresh paint and popcorn was in the air Wednesday morning as Luke and Kara Ready opened up for their first day of business at their new location for Ready Popped on West McCarty Street.
Ready Popped opened in the lower level of 631 W. McCarty St., in the same building as Wash Authority.
The Readys started their popcorn business in their basement about eight years ago, and it has flourished since, expanding to a food truck, online store and now a storefront.
Luke Ready said he is "nervous and excited all at the same time" to open the new storefront, especially since he anticipates offering several new flavors and products at the West McCarty Street location.
Ready Popped offers 15-17 popcorn flavors - kettle corn, jalapeno cheddar, cinnamon, white cheddar, and cookies and cream, to name a few. The business also sells different flavored nuts and pork rinds.
With the new West McCarty Street storefront, the Readys plan to offer new popcorn flavors, like lemon blueberry, chocolate-covered peanut butter and strawberry cheesecake. They said they are most looking forward to offering more chocolate-flavored popcorn.
"With being in a truck, obviously the weather makes things not work quite so well, and chocolate melts, so we have to be really careful," Luke said, adding they now have a safe place to store the chocolate-covered popcorn.
The Readys want to offer more seasonal popcorn flavors, as well as a flavor of the month.
The popcorn comes in half-gallon, gallon and 2-gallon bags that range from $6-$25 in price.
The Readys also plan to offer more pork rind flavors and sell fudge and jerky in the coming months. Customers can purchase refillable popcorn tins, along with different sized bags and baskets for corporations at the new storefront.
The Readys regularly help with fundraisers and encourage people to donate to local organizations through Ready Popped's online store at readypopped.com. That same giving spirit will continue into the new West McCarty Street location.
Ready Popped will offer a "giving wall" to help organizations fundraise. When customers purchase gallon-sized popcorn bags off the "giving wall," 30 percent of the proceeds will go to the fundraising organization, Luke said.
While many of the organizations customers can donate to will change, the Special Learning Center will always remain an option at Ready Popped. The Readys' son, Henry, attends the Special Learning Center, and the couple said it holds a special place in their hearts.
"We wanted to find a way to keep giving back to a community that has given back to us," Kara Ready said.
With the new storefront, the Readys said they will still operate their food truck and online store.
They encourage customers to look at their Facebook page for the store hours, as they will change.
Luke said they hope to hire more employees so they can keep the food truck and stationary location open at the same time.
Two months ago, Ready Popped's new location was just floor and water, a stark difference to the freshly painted black and white walls that now show off the vibrant colors of the popcorn. Luke made several renovations to the lower level to turn it into his and Kara's dream storefront.
"It's been a lot of work because if you would have seen this building before, you would have thought, 'What in the world were you thinking?'" Luke said, adding he is proud of how the renovations look now.
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