Ms. Bee's Gourmet Popcorn set to return to Winter Garden

Preya Shivdat recalled taking her two sons into Ms. Bee’s Gourmet Popcorn in downtown Winter Garden when they were boys. 

She said they asked at least once per week if they could go to the old-time popcorn and candy store.

It was a store that provided the perfect combination of snacks for families: popcorn for the adults and candy for the kids.

Walking into Ms. Bee’s in Clermont always brought back the nostalgia of those days in Winter Garden, Shivdat said.

So when the founder and then-owner of the beloved popcorn shop, Belinda Wilson, approached Shivdat about taking over ownership, Shivdat knew it was an opportunity she could not pass up.

In October of 2024, Shivdat took ownership of Ms. Bee’s Gourmet Popcorn as Wilson retired to focus on her health. 

But becoming owner meant Shivdat had big shoes to fill and a legacy to uphold.

“When (Wilson) approached me about buying the store, the feeling of continuing that legacy for the community and for everyone that was touched by the old store, the memories of the old store, I knew it was the right thing to do,” Shivdat said. “I feel very honored that she trusted me to carry it on. This is her baby, and so she knew that I would keep the integrity of the customers and the customer service that everyone was so used to having.”

Although that was an intimidating feat at first, Shivdat is taking ownership in stride with her first goal for the future of Ms. Bee’s being bringing the popcorn shop back to its roots in Winter Garden.

Ms. Bee’s will be expanding with a second location on Plant Street by the end of July.

Shivdat said the shop will be sharing space with Ruby and Rust at 31 S. Main St. It will have classic popcorn flavors as well as the unique flavors people have come to be surprised by, such as seafood boil, banana pudding, wasabi and more. There also will be a small selection of nostalgic candy. 

“In my heart, I knew we had to bring it back to Plant Street where it all started,” she said. “We’re just excited to be able to bring back those memories and create new memories for a lot of the new residents that maybe didn’t experience it, but on a much smaller scale.”

Photo by Liz Ramos

Ms. Bee’s was forced to relocate after heavy rains in 2019 caused the roof to cave in at the old shop in downtown Winter Garden. Wilson found a new home in Clermont and rebuilt her business, which she started in 2011. 

The Clermont location, which served as the production hub, will remain open but with a different look as Shivdat said there are plans to modernize the look of the store with a bee theme. 

The expansion to Winter Garden will serve as an opportunity for her to reconnect with the town she loves. Shivdat and her husband, Ravi Shivdat, lived in Winter Garden for 23 years. 

“We remember it well before it was the Plant Street we see today,” Shivdat said. “We’ve seen the growth, and we’ve seen the changes that Winter Garden has gone through, and we have that connection with the city. I think it’s important that people understand we know Winter Garden. We’re not just coming in and changing things up.”

Having locally owned, small shops like Ms. Bee’s and Scoops Old Fashioned Ice Cream in downtown Winter Garden is what makes the city special, Shivdat said. 

A self-described “serial entrepreneur,” Shivdat said she’s ready to use her experience as an entrepreneur, which includes owning Kona Ice for 11 years, as well as her experience in marketing has prepared her to serve as the owner of Ms. Bee’s, which she purchased with her husband.

She said she transitioned out of Kona Ice to be able to put her full attention on Ms. Bee’s. 

“Being an entrepreneur is just natural for me,” Shivdat said. “It’s just who I am. It’s in my genes. I think my grandmother was an entrepreneur. My grandfather was an entrepreneur. It’s something I’m drawn to. I love the excitement of the unknown and the adrenaline rush of taking something from A to B and then B to C, just watching it grow.”

With that entrepreneurial eye, Shivdat said she sees nothing but increased potential in the gourmet popcorn shop. But she also intends to stay true to the legacy of Wilson, who died June 10 at 69 years old, and the shop she created. 

“I assured (Wilson) we weren’t going to make big changes,” Shivdat said. “Don’t fix what’s not broken. She knew I was going to really take what she’s built and just build upon it. … Her passing and the comments from the community are a true testament of who she was as a person — not as a businesswoman, but as a person who really invested her time and love into the community. We want to continue that.”

Besides expanding to Winter Garden, Shivdat said the shop has been conducting wholesale business, working with several local hotels in the area to sell Ms. Bee’s to guests. 

Although Shivdat wants to expand the business throughout Central Florida in the future, she said there are no plans to franchise at this time because the “true essence of Ms. Bee’s is maintaining quality control and that feeling of it being locally owned.” But she does want to build brand recognition so Ms. Bee’s is known across the country and becomes a must-have product for visitors to the area.

“I want someone in another state to be excited about getting their Ms. Bee’s Gourmet Popcorn,” she said.