Palm Harbor ice cream shop a childhood dream come true

By JILLIAN BANDES
© St. Petersburg Times

Published September 2, 2002

PALM HARBOR -- Bill and Susan Strachan were ready to change careers.
For 33 years, Bill Strachan, 61, had been a ticket operator and ground
service supervisor for Trans World Airlines. Over 20 years, Mrs. Strachan,
57, had worked her way up to senior vice president of an insurance company
with more than 100,000 representatives nationwide.

Several years ago they quit their corporate jobs, sold virtually all their assets
and opened a homemade ice cream and dessert shop, something Mrs.
Strachan had dreamed of doing since childhood.

Neither knew the first thing about how to make ice cream or run a restaurant.
Mrs. Strachan took an ice cream-making class at Pennsylvania State
University, and followed with another at the University of Maryland.
Their first ice cream machine was delivered to their Palm Harbor home about
six months before they opened their business in May 1999. The recipe was
tried and tried again to satisfy their finicky standards.
"We gave away gallons and gallons of ice cream to our neighbors, trying out
the best product," Mrs. Strachan said.
The Strachans insisted on using only the most expensive ingredients, posing
a financial challenge to the fledging enterprise. For example, the pecans in
their butter pecan ice cream are specially buttered and roasted to order,
almost doubling the price. "People don't think this is an expensive business to
run. It is," Mrs. Strachan said.
Strachan's Homemade Ice Cream, at the northwest corner Tampa Road and
Alt. U.S. 19 N in Palm Harbor, would not become profitable for three years.
The ice cream is made from scratch, a time-consuming process Bill Strachan
tackles two to four a week in six-hour stretches. Mrs. Strachan creates the
desserts. From grated carrots in her hand-frosted carrot cake, to drizzling
melted butter over her Oreo Ice Cream Pies, everything in the store is created
from raw ingredients and made by her or her employees.
The store employs 10 high school and college students, who must maintain a
3.0 grade point average to keep their jobs. "Our employees are half of the
reason we are where we are," Mrs. Strachan said.
Taking the leap from the corporate world to running their own small
business was challenging but well worth it, the Strachans said.
Their work brings satisfaction in ways their former jobs did not. Mrs.
Strachan always had a knack for making desserts. Now she profits from
that talent.
"We enjoyed (our former jobs), but they weren't great," she said. "It was a
job. Now people walk into our store with a smile and walk out with a bigger
one; and that's just a great business to be in."

© St. Petersburg Times 2002