With no digital fanfare, but the reveal of a mouth-watering window display, a new smoothie shop has opened its doors on the downtown strip, and Lawrencians are flocking to the counter already.
Fresh Cut Smoothies at 842 Massachusetts St. quietly pulled down the butcher paper in the window on Monday and put a “now open” sign on the front door, announcing daily hours of 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
This week has served as a soft opening before an official unveiling on Saturday.
Fresh Cut Smoothies is the brainchild of Daniel Luckey, a seasoned service industry professional, who envisioned a quick, nourishing Mass Street option that would serve visitors, downtown employees and residents alike. He encouraged folks to submit original smoothie recipes and voice their menu item preferences.
In the last week, Lawrencians itching to get their smoothie fix have trickled in for classic creations and specialty smoothies alike. Staples, like strawberry banana and apple orange, live on the menu alongside sweet and savory treats such as “white silk,” with ingredients like dates and avocado, and “the mocha smoothie,” with elements such as cold brew concentrate, cacao nibs and bananas.
“We’ve had such a wonderful community reception, and we haven’t even announced anything online,” Luckey said. “All we’ve done is just put a ‘now open’ sign up.”
Smoothies may be the heart of the store, but it doesn’t hurt that the space is adorned with an extra artistic touch. Even without an online announcement, passersby would be hard-pressed to ignore the rotating window display with cascades of brightly painted fruit strung up to look like they’re falling out of Fresh Cut Smoothies cups.
Much of the interior decor, including a playful rainbow strip along the wall and fruit-themed shelves, as well as the window display, can be credited to local creator Matt Gifford.
Gifford traced and reproduced the specialty art that graphic and web designer Ashley McCaskill created for the store, before running the designs through computer numerical control machines. Out came the plywood shapes for fruit and cups, which he handpainted to match the “pointilist textured finish” of the McCaskill’s original art.
At last, he rigged the cups with disco ball motors and LED lights to add that extra shine — and a constant, eye-catching rotation — to the display.
An appreciative Luckey pointed out that Gifford also lent a helping hand by throwing an extra coat of paint on the walls and doing some caulking.
“I tried to use as many local resources as possible to get everything done,” Gifford said. He worked on the computer numerical control machines at Peaslee Tech; paint was sourced from Wonder Fair; and any supplies he could buy at Cottin’s Hardware, he did.
Gifford, whose work is in many residential spaces, was excited to see his downtown window display debut.
“To finally get to see the butcher paper pulled down and see it from the street — it was a lovely, lovely feeling,” he said.
Alongside the tantalizing displays, Fresh Cut employees are hard at work assembling cold treats for customers. The week of soft opening has allowed Luckey and his staff to get their oranges in a row.
“We’ll be just improving over time, slowly,” Luckey said. “We were like crying, shitty babies on Monday, and now we are learning our shapes and our colors and so, hopefully, by the end of the weekend, we’ll be taking our first steps.”
Over time, the menu will expand to include cold-pressed juices and grab-and-go food. Already, a classic soft pretzel machine sits behind the counter, tempting smoothie-drinkers with an additional salty treat.
“We’re excited for people to come in, check out the space, try out some smoothies,” Luckey said. “Everything’s still a work in progress, but let us know what you want to see, and we just want to do that. And that’s basically the whole ethos.”
People can submit smoothie recipes here, and follow Fresh Cut Smoothies on Instagram and Facebook.
More of Gifford’s work can be found on his website at stuffmakery.com.
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Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at wulfe@lawrencekstimes.com.
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