We have a large family here in Sturgis, with 8 nieces and nephews under the age of 18. It was important to us to bring a modern ice cream shop to our town that they, and the rest of the kids in the community, would love. We put our own innovative spin on it by taking Mindy’s marketing background and Chris’s finance background (and love for all things sweet) to turn a crazy combo of hard scooped ice cream and creativity into a business.

Born and raised in Sturgis, Chris and his family have wanted to bring something to the area that the community would enjoy for a long time. When we came up with the idea of Freakin’ Sweets we knew we wanted to be different, we wanted to turn our daughter’s imagination into tasty treats and focus our attention on making dessert masterpieces that not only taste good but look good.

In the summer of 2021 we sat our family down and came up with multiple milkshake flavors and had a “taste testing” where all of the kids helped us figure out our unique milkshake recipe’s that we know you will love. Fun fact, it was our 5 year old nephew who decided adding marshmallows to fruity pebbles in our Yabba Freak Shake is a must and he was absolutely right.

When Freakin' Sweets first brought its donut delights downtown, we were just happy to make the community a little sweeter. Then fate introduced us to the owner of Mike's Pizza.

Learning that this 40-year town treasure might vanish forever? Well, that was a bigger emergency than running out of sprinkles! Maybe it was my husband's pizza obsession, or maybe we just can't sit still long enough to think things through properly—but before we knew it, we were pizza proprietors too!

After a successful grand opening summer, we did what any reasonable sugar enthusiasts would do: merged our donut haven with a legendary pizzeria. Because nothing says "sound business strategy" quite like combining completely different food groups under one roof!

And that's how My Freakin' Pizza & Sweets was born—where family memories and questionable business decisions come together to create something unexpectedly wonderful. Who knew our inability to say no would lead to your new favorite family hangout spot?

We wanted to stand out, to be different, to be modern, to be something people remember and want to come back for time and time again. We have big plans in the future but for now, we just want the town to enjoy our little slice of deliciousness and every memory that comes with it.

From our family to yours, THANK YOU.

The Merrills