Apponaug Village Creamery Ice Cream’s Successful Summer

WARWICK, RI  — Apponaug Village Creamery is enjoying steady business at its 10 Music Lane location, a shared dream come true for engaged couple Joe Trillo and Molly Newman.

The couple had been talking about opening an ice cream shop for years, but hadn’t pursued it until Joe learned the building was for sale.

“It’s a little pet project that we started,” Joe said.

“The idea for the shop came during the pandemic when we were all so isolated from friends and family. I was working at the hospital and it really hit me how life had changed and families couldn’t be together even when a loved one was admitted to the hospital and it broke my heart, said Molly, a nurse at Kent Hospital at the time.

“So I wanted a way to give back to the community and provide a space that families could come and sit and hang and have a ice cream and reconnect after a long day, or celebrate a accomplishment or whatever the reason may be.”

The spot, most recently the home of Sweet Dee’s Cafe & Cupcakery, now located on Wakefield Street in West Warwick, was not quite up for sale when Joe learned it might be available. He visited the site for his day job as an inspector with AAA Alarm & Fire Protection in West Warwick in 2024, thought the place looked cute.

“I said, ‘Wow, this building is adorable,” Joe remembered. He provided his report on the fire alarm system, and took the opportunity to ask the owner what she planned to do with the space. She said she was thinking of selling it. That was all Joe needed to hear.

“I said, ‘I’d buy it,’ ” Joe said. They closed on the building and worked on remodeling it into Apponaug Village Creamery. Joe worked on the logo and color scheme and Molly started researching how she was going to run an ice cream shop.

Molly, a registered nurse, worked at Kent Hospital for 10 years, then as a travel nurse for 2 years in Florida, now works at Blue Cross Blue Shield as a Utilization Review Nurse. She’s also spending time handling the front of house at the shop nights, and Joe handles the behind-the-scenes things like maintenance.

The renovations were finished just before Christmas 2024 and they opened the Warwick ice cream shop Saturday, April 12,  serving, “Oversized portions of premium hard ice cream,” priced for value, as the couple told a follower on Facebook.

“We are one of the more inexpensive ice cream shops in the area-part of what we started on was value for families because we ourselves were sick of today’s crazy high prices,” they wrote.

A ‘Really Good Summer’ For Apponaug Village Creamery

The pair each have ties to the city. Joe lived in Apponaug for about three years in his 20s, and Molly grew up in Warwick. So they knew the charm of Apponaug and were familiar with the people when they opened. And the community has welcomed them and their ice cream to the city.

“We’ve had a really good summer,” Joe said, “We had a really warm welcome from the community.”

Part of that welcoming spirit was in play this past weekend, when the shop hosted the Scoops and Sirens fundraiser for the Warwick Animal Shelter, with Warwick Firefighters serving scoops. Warwick Firefighters stepped behind the counter scooping up ice cream, raising money for the furry pals at Friends of the Warwick Animal Shelter. All tips went directly to the Animal Shelter and 10 percent of all sales were donated to the shelter.

Joe said that the idea for the firefighters to serve the ice cream started as a joke with firefighters visiting the shop. When they joked that they could step behind the counter and dish out ice cream, Joe and Molly figured, why not let them do it for a good cause? The event was a big success. All told, the fundraiser brought in $2,000 for Warwick’s animals in need.

“The community really comes out in full force to help out,” Joe said.

“The community has really utilized the space especially the patio and the adirondacks we have set up. People come and hang I love looking out the window and seeing the patio filled with families and groups of friends. To me when I see that my goal was accomplished,” Molly said.