Wicked Licks ice cream sets up shop in cool spot along Route 20 in Sturbridge

STURBRIDGE — When she looks back over the jobs she has held, Lynne Cormier remembers that her first paycheck came from scooping ice cream at a Minnesota Dairy Queen.

"I remember those days as being really fun," she said.

Later, during college, she worked at Carvel and eventually her parents owned an ice cream shop.

Now, after raising two children with her husband, Shawn Cormier, a teaching career and then an office job, it was ice cream that came to mind as she contemplated another career change.

Cormier opened Wicked Licks at 380 Main St. in Sturbridge July 20, and the first weekend was a barrage of long lines that stretched out the door.

A steady flow of customers continued into week two, she said.

The building once housed the area visitors' center and has sat vacant for years. Cormier often wondered why and when she began pondering an ice cream shop, the location seemed perfect, with its proximity to Old Sturbridge Village and the Route 20 shopping district.

It's a quick stop for dessert after a meal at one of the many eateries that line the stretch, as well, she said.

Cormier might not have opened the shop here at all, but after her father's 2018 death and difficulties managing his estate, which included an ice cream shop called Licks Unlimited in downtown Excelsior, Minnesota, which she had hoped to run during the summers, she decided to look for a spot near home.

Special ice cream

The ice cream at her dad's shop was special. It was creamy and high-quality and came from the Chocolate Shoppe in Madison, Wisconsin.

Cormier thought she ought to bring it to the area since her family enjoyed it and it wasn't being served anywhere nearby.

The new shop is quaint and clean, sparkling new with a giant chalkboard where dozens of frozen offerings are listed.

The flavors are enticing: Rhubarb crumble, lemon poppy seed, burnt butterscotch, exhausted parent … the list is long with something for every taste.

And there are sprinkles — aka Jimmies to folks from some areas — in both chocolate and purple. Sea salt can also be sprinkled atop the ice cream and Cormier is adding new things as she navigates her way through this first summer.

"I want to add graham cracker (crumbles) and maybe try olive oils or balsamic," she said, adding that herbs and ice cream are popular at some shops she has visited.

Cinnamon on pear ice cream is one combination she likes and hopes to offer.

The flavors will change, too, as she studies what lands in the best-seller category. The data will be used to choose flavors for next summer, she explained.

Lemon meringue will soon join the lineup, she said, adding that with graham cracker crumbles, the experience could be like a frozen pie.

Homemade waffle cones are also on the agenda and maybe, down the line, an ice cream cart that can visit private parties.

Cormier's husband, a businessman who owns Cormier Jewelers in Southbridge, encourages her, promoting her new business on his social media accounts. She said she will eventually create some social media pages for Wicked Licks, but for now wickedlicksma.com will suffice.

Wicked Licks is open noon to 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, as well as Monday holidays, through Oct. 31.

While Cormier said she chose teaching so she could spend summers near the shore studying marine biology, she now has to fit that in on her days off.

Still, Cormier said she loves the ice cream business and carrying on with a family tradition that started after her father bought her mother the Minnesota ice cream shop near Lake Minnetonka so many years ago.

She enjoys training area youth as her employees, hoping that they one day look back at her shop as the most fun they've had at a job.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Wicked Licks premium ice cream sets up shop on Route 20 in Sturbridge