The doors to Dixie Cups Ice Cream restaurant will be opened in early May, in time to treat Mom to a tasty ice cream concoction on Mother鈥檚 Day.
Owner Matt Kutsak, who also owns Matt鈥檚 Furniture Store in Kamsack, among other furniture stores and business ventures, said the new restaurant will feature 24 flavours of both soft and hard ice cream varieties.
鈥淎s if I don鈥檛 have enough stuff to do, I am starting a new business in Kamsack,鈥� Kutsak said with a smile, and tongue-in-cheek manner. 鈥淏ut, in all seriousness, I have always wanted to open an ice cream shop. This has been my dream for years, and it is finally happening.鈥�
The building was previously the home of the Glass Door Jewelry store, on Kamsack鈥檚 main street, on the opposite side of the post office, but many years ago, residents may recall, it was Percy鈥檚 Elite Confectionary.
鈥淲hen I acquired this building, I realized the area where it sits on main street sees a lot of traffic, so I decided to make the ice cream shop a reality,鈥� Kutsak said.
There is much more than ice cream to this restaurant. Kutsak has had the interior fully renovated and has had equipment installed to allow for service of such fast food items as wraps, nachos, pizza, wings, fries and poutine, onion rings and possibly deep-fried pickles.
鈥淚 have been meeting with suppliers and myself and Kris Ferrill, who will be the kitchen manager of the restaurant, have been making decisions on what will be best for the menu,鈥� Kutsak said. 鈥淥f course, we will try different things and find out what works best for our customers.鈥�
Ferrill is no stranger to the restaurant business. He brings a lot of experience to the new place, for he has worked in, and also owned and operated, restaurants for many years.
Ferrill and his wife Kim and three children, Kole, 14, Keeleigh, 10 and Keeva, 4, have lived in Kamsack for 14 years.
Rhonda Rosset will be working at the restaurant as the general manager, and was born and raised in Kamsack. She moved away, and owned a gas station and confectionary in Ontario, but has been back for the past 18 years, bringing with her food-service and business experience.
鈥淢y mom, Eileen Supena, and aunt, Anita Skene, owned the Cottage Caf茅 in Kamsack,鈥� said Rosset. 鈥淢y first week-end job as a student in high school was right here in this building, working for Percy Goodland in Percy鈥檚 Elite Confectionary.鈥�
鈥淭he counter had a line of stools and people would order ice cream floats and sit down to enjoy them,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here was wall-to-wall candy in here then, and a quarter would buy a large bag full.鈥�
Dixie Cups will have a walk-up window for those who are pressed for time, and also tables inside with seating for 24 customers. Hours of operation will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. The hours may change, according to customer traffic.
