Scooping Up Dreams

Photos by Jack Portune

Each ice cream flavor at Delectable Delights joins together a perfect pair of ingredients. Bourbon-spiked espresso mingles with bittersweet chocolate bites in “Exhausted Parent.” Three kinds of rich cocoa blend to create the bold taste experienced with the “Zanzibar® Chocolate.” The dairy-free “Toasted Coconut” crafts a classic combination among the three ingredients popularized by the Almond Joy candy bar—coconut, chocolate and almond. 

As harmonious as these choices are, especially sweet is the story of a couple who opened an ice cream shop driven by their desire to bring worthwhile experiences to small, community-minded towns. Behind Delectable Delights are Devra and Daniel Wygant, whose stories are sprinkled with a sentimental childhood, a lasting love for treats, and the longing to help pave a better future for the next generation.

Devra’s Dream of Ice Cream 
The inspiration for Delectable Delights finds its beginnings in Chicago, where Devra grew up. She is what her husband Daniel likes to call a “sweets connoisseur,” and her affection for confections reminds her of home. Sugar is a taste of her time spent at “Sweets,” an old-timey dessert shop in Chicago that her family used to frequent. 

Starting Delectable Delights was a chance for her to imagine a setting that could also make enduring memories.

Eleven years ago the couple launched its first location in Lutz, the community the couple calls home. The business had expanded to four towns before opening in Bartow earlier this year. 

One of their existing stores was in Winter Haven, a city the couple fell in love with the charm of. They were in search of a similar close-knit community to open their fifth store in when they came across Bartow. They recall how the downtown area felt like a movie scene to them with the local businesses, street vendors and obvious camaraderie.

Initially, they decided to turn down a building on Main Street, but Bartow remained in their hearts. One night as Devra slept she dreamt about working in the store located at 375 E. Main St., the exact location they had rejected, and it felt right to her. The next morning, she was adamant about sealing the deal.  

“She brought her dream to life,” Daniel said. 

Mentoring the Next Generation
Devra and Daniel became parents at a young age, prior to jumping into the sweet treats business. Starting Delectable Delights was a chance for them to grow closer and to truly become a team. 

“We get to bring family and work together,” Daniel stated. 

He is determined to make Delectable Delights a place where the staff can feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves and find opportunities to grow. Daniel and Devra hire what they like to call “team members”—workers who they can mentor and prepare to one day run a business of their own. 

“She’s relying on her great memories and she wants to help other people build that,” Daniel says about his wife.”For me, [the mission] is kind of helping the kids out too, giving them opportunity.”

Great Ice Cream and So Much More 
Customers of Delectable Delights are invited to enjoy ice cream of the highest quality, imported from the award-winning Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream in Wisconsin. The ambiance is memorable, from the sweet-scented waffle cones to the classic music reminiscing of the past to the charming design aesthetic Devra has brought to life.

Inside, the store has elegant cabinets and tables dressed with delicate trinkets like antique dolls and plushies. A jukebox standing at the entrance, there for decorative purposes only, introduces customers to the vintage feel of Delectable Delights that is brought to life with claw machines and a ski ball game that epitomize the type of atmosphere Devra fell in love with as a child. For those looking to take a treat home, there are a number of classic candies, including a wide variety of individually wrapped taffy. 

Delectable Delights, with a name inspired by the owners’ initials, is a shop that stands for a couple’s care for making meaningful occasions, each in their own unique way. 

“We’re not just in the business of selling ice cream, candy, and toys,” Daniel says, “We sell the experience, the memory.”