Proper Ice Cream picks sweet spot next in Delray
Proper Ice Cream has picked a sweet spot for its new flagship location, right next to the iPic Theater opening in downtown Delray Beach in early 2019.
Proper Ice Cream owner Rick Felberbaum said the plan is to make the new Delray Beach store his signature shop. The store’s address is 75 S.E. 4th Ave. Plans are to open by Nov. 1.
The gourmet ice cream shop already has another Delray Beach location, a kitchen and retail store at 1445 N. Congress Ave. Felberbaum said he’s keeping that store open.
But the downtown location is a much more proper spot for pedestrians strolling by.
“Given the store’s location, it should do well even without the movie theater,” he said.
Proper Ice Cream serves traditional flavors such as chocolate and vanilla, but also offers the unusual, such as caramel fig and pistachio, sweet cream and peach, and cornbread and apple tartin.
Felberbaum long has sought a downtown destination for his gourmet hand-crafted ice cream. He said he tried but gave up on opening a Proper Ice Cream store at a property he owns in downtown Boca Raton. Too much bureaucracy, he said.
But Boca Raton’s loss is Delray Beach’s gain.
Felberbaum said his ice cream is so popular, it’s become a destination not only for customers in the western part of the county; he’s also drawing a following from vegans because he makes several flavors without milk products.
Proper Ice Cream is among several businesses seeking to cluster near the coming theater, under construction and set for completion by mid-February. The iPic theater complex, dubbed 4th and 5th Delray, is just south of Atlantic Avenue, between 4th and 5th avenues.
The eight-auditorium theater complex not only will feature iPic’s reclining seats, along with pillow and blankets. 4th and 5th Delray also will feature the latest in seating technology — private “viewing pods,” akin to first-class sleeping pods on airplanes, with two reclining seats.
The goal is to offer guests even more privacy and comfort, iPic Chief Executive Hamid Hashemi said.
Other new businesses planning to open near the iPic are The Wine Room, a popular wine bar and retail shop from Winter Park, opening in November at 411 E. Atlantic Ave.; and the Delray City Market, a food hall planned for 33 S.E. Third Ave., half a block south of Atlantic Ave.
Felberbaum said in addition to the retail ice cream shop, he’s also supplying restaurants with his ice cream. They include 1000 North restaurant, the Jupiter establishment by former NBA superstar Michael Jordan, and Buccan on Palm Beach, he said.
“And we’ve been approached by a bunch more, but I want to calm down and do one thing at a time,” Felberbaum said. “Season is coming.”