Check Out Bonnie Butler’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bonnie Butler.  

Hi Bonnie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story has taken many twists and turns from the initial reason why I decided to open an ice cream and coffee shop. My daughter and I always wanted to open a sweet shop and we would talk about it often. In 2016 she was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. In order to give her 100% of my time in helping her get through her treatments, we put our plans on the back burner. Once her health was back to where we could move forward, we decided on a healthier candy and novelty store that would be in the smaller of the 2 buildings my husband and I purchased back in 2014. The candy store wasn’t doing as well as expected. Two years after we opened our candy store, we decided that my husband and I would swap buildings and I would take on the larger train station building and add coffee and ice cream. We had renovations to complete in order to operate a food business which took longer than expected. We finally opened our doors in January of 2020. It was an amazing 3 months, then covid hit. We closed for a month and reopened with only the walk-up window open for business. The community was so supportive. They are the reason we made it through that crazy time. Our customers come from near and far to try one of our 8 over the top specialty shakes. It’s been an amazing ride so far! 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I would have to say that it has not been as smooth as we had anticipated. With opening in January of 2020 and then having to close and reopen with covid protocols in place, it was a little scary at first. Surprisingly 2020 did end up being the best year we have had so far. I would assume because everyone was home and not able to travel, our ice cream brought normalcy and comfort to the community. Unfortunately, since opening in 2020, we have not had a typical year. One that we can look back on and understand how the next year will be. 2021 was crazy with everyone able to travel again (since they weren’t able to in 2020). So, our business saw no revenue growth that year. 2022 has been a totally different year so far from the previous two. Our days and weeks are not consistent. We will be extremely busy and then no customers for a block of time. Each day is different and with not having consistent busy hours to look back on it makes scheduling very difficult. But I’m not giving up yet. I’ve got plans in place this year to help grow my business. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am the owner of Plymouth Depot. Plymouth Depot is a historic train station built in 1890. We offer hard scooped ice cream and locally roasted coffee. It is difficult to have an ice cream shop that offers better for your ingredients but I have managed to offer just that. Our store specializes in over-the-top Specialty Shakes. Our number one seller is the Train Wreck. I am most proud of being able to start a business and keep it operational after all we have been through in opening a store just before covid landed here in the US and the ups and downs we have experienced in the last couple of years. Having our store in a historic train station, our specialty shakes, and our support of local small businesses by purchasing their wholesale products to sell in our store sets us apart.

How do you define success?
Success is being happy in what you do. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.plymouthdepot.com
• Instagram: plymouthdepot
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/plymouthdepot
• Yelp: plymouthdepot