St. Augustine's Mayday Handcrafted Ice Creams is coming to Tampa
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 18, 2021

An artisan ice cream shop with storefronts throughout Northeast Florida will make its Tampa debut in Ybor City.

Mayday Handcrafted Ice Creams will take over the Ybor storefront previously occupied by The Hyppo Gourmet Ice Pops. Both brands are owned by St. Augustine entrepreneur Stephen DiMare. The Hyppo’s lease in Ybor City was up, DiMare said, and after evaluating the location, he decided it would be better used as a Mayday scoop shop.

Beyond stores in Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Mayday also has a presence in Lakeland food hall The Joinery. The Ybor scoop shop will also sell a selection of Hyppo popsicles, and DiMare said he expects it to open as Mayday by late November.

Mayday’s scoop shops are whimsical, aviation-themed spaces — its name pays homage to efforts to bring ice cream to U.S. troops during World War II. It’s known for flavors like “Coffee and Doughnuts” and “Parent Trap,” which features creamy, salty peanut butter swirled ice cream with chunks of Oreo cookies.

“Ice cream’s proven to us to be more robust than just popsicles,” DiMare said. “We really want to be part of Ybor’s ongoing story, and the most sustainable way for us to do that is to put a Mayday in.”

DiMare says he sees enough demand for more Mayday locations throughout the Tampa Bay region, even as multiple artisan ice cream brands are expanding here. Ohio-based Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams has locations in Tampa Heights and Sparkman Wharf, and Tampa-based Chill Bros. is expanding throughout the region. Bright Ice, based in Pinellas Park, is also adding locations around the area.

“At a minimum, we hope to put a store further west somewhere in Tampa and also one in St. Pete,” DiMare said.

The total startup costs of a Mayday location vary greatly, DiMare said, and are heavily dependent on what previously occupied the space. The startup investment can range from $80,000 to more than $200,000. The ideal footprint is 1,200 square feet — enough for ample freezer storage and a few seats.

“It could be smaller,” DiMare said of his real estate needs, “but we’ve found that we need a ton of storage for ice cream.”