When the beloved Kaleidoscoop permanently closed for business in early fall, downtown Durham lost its go-to ice cream hub… until now.

Owners Chris and Donna Guerrette of The Candy Bar on Main Street have a passion for all things sugary and sweet. Their store features a variety of delectable treats and will now officially be carrying a total of 12 flavors of homemade ice cream from The Bloom’n Cow, located in Newmarket.

The decision to upgrade the store’s ice cream freezer was due, in part, to the closing of Kaleidoscoop. The Guerrettes saw that there was a hole in the market and wasted no time in filling it. Adding ice cream to their shop had been a long-term goal.

“We didn’t want to make the foot print huge because Kaleidoscoop was there and the Dairy Bar is there. Then Kaleidoscoop closed and we decided to take the risk and went out and purchased another freezer,” Donna said.

All the rest seemed to fall right into place for The Candy Bar’s expansion. Chris and Donna decided on The Bloom’n Cow because of its close vicinity and wide range of flavors.

Furthermore, The Bloom’n Cow’s manager Nick Lewis worked with the pair to develop the shop’s own one-of-a-kind flavor called Vanilla Mint Lace.

“It is made with a chocolate that only we carry so it’s really cool. It is a Madagascar vanilla with mint chocolate lace pieces that are broken up and swirled into it,” said Donna.

Other flavors they are carrying include: Vanilla, Chocolate, Banana Cookie, Coconut, Stracciatella, Peanut Butter Oreo, Cookies n’ Cream, Salted Caramel, Coffee, and Strawberry.

However, they do plan on switching out flavors throughout the season since Bloom’n Cow carries over 100 different types.

The store will also be creating a menu of shakes, sundaes and soda floats; including a sundae of its own creation called ‘The Kraken Gigantic Sundae.’ The sundae will be served in a pail or bucket holding eight scoops of ice cream with a choice of any toppings the store has available.

“It’s kinda fun for kids’ sports teams, I mean I’m sure I’ll have the occasional crazy person who’ll want to eat it themselves… but that’s craziness,” Donna said, chuckling.

Despite the less-than-ideal spring weather, there has been a strong turnout from many community members according to employee and UNH student, Ellie Huot.

“The first day they added the ice cream the line was all the way out the door,” Huot said.

UNH students seem to be pleased with the arrival of another place to cure their ice cream sweet tooth.

“I went last week and tried the Peanut Butter Oreo and it was so good. It was the perfect

balance between ice cream and Oreo and super creamy. I will definitely be going back for more very soon,” said junior Darcy Fisher.

The Candy Bar plans on extending its hours until 9 p.m. and making outdoor seating available once summer begins.