COURTENAY, B.C- A new business has opened up at one of the Valley’s busiest intersections.
At the former location of the Sweet Surprise Gluten-free Bakery and Café at 5th Street and Cliffe Avenue, Blue Spruce Ice Cream has moved in and opened up for business.
The space inside the new business is undergoing some changes from the former look of the bakery, and multiple flavours are now on offer from the front counter.
Owner Kristen Wood and chef Jonathan Frazer had approached the owners of the bakery back in January, after Frazer left a 13-year position at the Atlas Café.
“I didn’t want to get out of the food business, and ice cream just seemed to call to me,” said Frazer.
“We kind of kicked it around for a while, it was yes no, yes no, and then we came and talked to the bakery here.”
According to Frazer, they’ll be looking to source local ingredients for the ice creams on offer at the shop, which could result in seasonal flavours. Wood also indicated that they’ll be looking to expand their dairy-free offerings.
The pair will also be getting some more decoration for the business in the coming days, with the aim of drawing more people to the nearby plaza.
“We’ve got some signs coming from outside, we had some new tables tops made,” said Wood.
“We have new chairs coming, we hope to add to our outside courtyard and get some music happening here. I’m a piano player by trade, so we’d like to get some music happening too.”
The shop held it’s soft open on Thursday, and it’s now open for business.
