If you’re looking for a sweet treat around Capital, you won’t have to look far. Bexley’s local businesses have a lot to offer, from ice cream to dessert-like protein shakes.
BeYoutyFit Nutrition is a woman-owned health and beauty shop selling smoothies, energy teas and beauty services.
Co-owner Kayla Hedden said the business has been open for one year.
“I’ve always really wanted to help people,” Hedden said. “I was working in corporate retail America and I just wasn’t completely fulfilled in that, so I decided to take another pathway, become a wellness entrepreneur and offer the community healthy options.”
The drinks sold at BeYoutyFit Nutrition are meant to have a variety of health benefits, such as providing energy, hydration and electrolytes or your daily dose of protein.
On top of smoothies and teas, the space offers beauty services, such as eyelash extensions, waxes, teeth whitening, tooth gems and more.
Events are often held by the local business to bring the community together. Some events in the past have been a Galentine’s brunch, a spa party and a pumpkin painting event.
Hedden believes BeYoutyFit Nutrition stands out because of the closeness between the staff and customers.
“We really pride ourselves in learning and knowing all of our customers by name, what they do, you know, their kids, things like that,” Hedden said. “So it’s very much like more of a family and a community versus just a transaction.”
BeYoutyFit Nutrition is located at 2918 East Main St.
Another Bexley beverage shop is First Corner, a boba tea store that opened in July 2021.
Boba tea, also known as bubble tea, is a cold-served beverage that contains tapioca or fruit-flavored pearls.
The boba tea shop features 40 drinks on their menu, including milk tea, flavored tea, matcha, premium tea, frozen teas, non-tea milks and fruit smoothies.
Andrea Leciejewski is a Capital alumni and the manager at First Corner.
She previously worked at another local Bexley restaurant, Zen Cha. Leciejewski said the owners of Zen Cha started First Corner, so she has been with the boba tea shop since it opened.
“It’s a fun place to come,” Leciejewski said. “Boba tea is always a nice little treat to have and a lot of people have never had boba tea before. So, it’s a fun new adventure for them to try.”
First Corner is located at 2408 East Main St.
While BeYoutyFit Nutrition and First Corner are relatively new to the area, this next local business has been around for over half a century.
Johnson’s Real Ice Cream is a family-owned business that has been a staple in the Bexley community since 1950.
Johnson’s offers ice cream by the scoop, sundaes, shakes, fruit smoothies and more.
Since opening its first location in Bexley, the business has grown to have locations in Dublin and New Albany.
The ice cream shop also services over three hundred restaurants.
Donavyn Harris is an employee training to become the next manager and a friend of the family.
“[Johnson’s has] been around since 1950, we’ve got people that have been coming here since they were about 5 years old,” Harris said. “They continue to come, they want it exactly how they remember it from their childhood and we deliver… We’re all friends with each other and we’re friends of the community.”
Johnson’s Real Ice Cream is located at 2728 East Main St.
