The Seltzes purchased the Central Perk and Dessert coffee shop, 14 S. 14th St., from Darcy Lee in January. On Tuesday, the couple announced a new name for the business — Ardys Mae Coffee & Dessert.

“Ardys was my mother’s name,” Jo Seltz said. “And Mae was Rich’s mother’s middle name.”

A lot has changed in the coffee shop in the last six months.

“When we took over in the first part of January, we came in with the idea of only cleaning the carpet,” Jo Seltz said. “And then we decided to get new flooring, and then from there it went to new paint and then we tore out a wall and made it bigger, so it just kept going.”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Rich and Jo Seltz, of Fort Dodge, purchased the Central Perk and Dessert coffeeshop in January. On Tuesday, they announed a new name for the business -- Ardys Mae Coffee & Dessert.

It took about six weeks to get the coffee shop up and running after the Seltzes took over, she said.

Renaming the coffee shop was not on Jo Seltz’s to-do list.

“My daughter Sigourney came up with the idea, and I literally drug my feet, probably from March until about a month ago,” she said.

Finally, she decided to take a leap of faith and the coffee shop’s new name was unveiled at a ribbon cutting with the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance on Tuesday.

Nearly everything the shop sells — from its house roasted coffee beans to its scones and muffins — is made fresh daily. Ardys Mae recently started selling charcuterie boxes filled with meats, cheese, veggies, fruits and more.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Barista Kaleb Ferry works on one of the dozens of handcrafted coffee drinks he'd make on Tuesday at Ardys Mae Coffee & Dessert. Ferry has worked at the coffeeshop, formerly known as Central Perk and Dessert, for 10 years.

“All of our coffee beans are roasted fresh here daily,” Jo Seltz said. “So when you come to get a cup of coffee, those beans were roasted today, not yesterday.”

Central Perk regulars will still see a familiar face behind the counter and at the drive-thru window. Barista Kaleb Ferry has been crafting caffeinated beverages for customers at the coffee shop for a decade now. Jo Seltz said she receives comments out in the community all the time about how impressed customers are with Ferry’s service and his ability to remember “the usual.”

“He knows coffee,” Jo Seltz said. “Truly, we wouldn’t be here today without Kaleb.”

The Seltzes also own another iconic Fort Dodge business — the Dariette ice cream shop, 17 S. 12th St. — as well as Tilley’s Quilts located next door. They bought the Dariette in 2007.

“When we bought the ice cream place, we knew nothing about ice cream,” Jo Seltz said. “The kids that worked at the Dariette when we bought it taught us how to make a malt and do a cone and all that.”

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
The refresher, a fruity caffeinated drink, is a favorite at Ardys Mae Coffee & Dessert, formerly known as Central Perk and Dessert, at 14 S. 14th St.

The couple may now have 15 years of running an ice cream shop under their belt, but they were still brand-new to running a coffee shop when they took over Central Perk.

“It was another challenge, something different,” Jo Seltz said. “Let’s see what we can do.”

Another change the Seltzes made after taking over was creating the Coffee Club, which is a coffee bean subscription for customers.

“We pick different coffees that we haven’t had and they get a 15 percent discount on the coffee beans,” Sigourney Hubanks, the Seltzes’ daughter, said. “They get a free cup of coffee during their birthday month.”

Coffee club members have three membership options to choose from — half a pound of coffee beans weekly, one pound of coffee beans twice a month, or one pound of coffee once a month.

The shop is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Jo Seltz said they would like to eventually expand their hours once more staff is hired.