For 30-year owner of Diane's water ices in Voorhees, life has been continuous flavor hunt.

Cherry. Lemon. Tangerine.

Whether you have regularly been going to Diane's Gourmet Italian Water Ices since it first opened its doors in Voorhees in 1994 or only recently discovered the shop, those flavors have been on the menu.

They will hold a spot on the menu for years to come, said Mark DeCesare, the owner of the popular outlet, open during all but the winter months.

"If I know [a flavor is] good, I don't care how much money it costs, I stick with it," he told 70and73.com in an interview.

A personal experience that was quite the opposite helped him shape his business model, DeCesare said.

"When I was growing up, I used to go to Rita's (Italian ice)," he said. "I used to like the tangerine fruit flavor and vanilla custard," but the shop would not always have tangerine.

"I used to get so angry. So, when I started this business, I didn't forget that," he said.

Yet DeCesare is not afraid to try new flavors. From time to time, a feature flavor may appear on Diane's menu for a limited time, like Strawberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Fudge Brownie or Cherry Vanilla Chocolate Chunk.

Employees or customers have successfully suggested some of Diane's specials, DeCesare explained. The inspiration for other flavors often comes from another cold treat.

"When we go food shopping, I go to the ice cream aisle and look at the flavors," he said. "If I see something that sounds different and unique…I'll try and make that or duplicate something similar to it in a water ice."

Fixtures is a regular feature of 70and73.com, celebrating the aspects of our suburban life that have become fixtures in our world. Often, they can be businesses. But not always. If you have a nominee, send it to contactus@70and73.com.

70and73.com FIXTURES:

• Inspired by Grateful Dead, Woodstock Trading Company in Cherry Hill around since 1980s.
• Online orders? Not at 65-year-old Carl's Shoes in Moorestown. It's all about 'sit and fit.'
• Erlton Bicycle Shop in Cherry Hill has spent nearly 50 years putting suburbia on two wheels.

That attention to flavor detail has paid off. Even today, on warm evenings, a line forms outside the shop just as it did when Diane's opened nearly 30 years ago when it was a novelty for parents and kids in Cherry Hill, Voorhees and surrounding suburbs.

DeCesare, who lives in Marlton, said it was the inconsistency of his original profession — and not of water ice flavors — that pushed him to enter the Italian water ice market.

"I have a degree in civil engineering, project management and construction management," he said. When he was in that business, it was volatile and it seemed the more-tenured employees with higher salaries were the first to go, he added.

"So, I didn't want to be that age with kids in college and worrying about employment," DeCesare said.

More than a half-million gourmet Italian water ices have been served from the same 2999 E. Evesham Road Voorhees location.

Rachel Worthington, of Berlin, manages the shop and serves customers when Mark is not there, and there are also a handful of workers who scoop out the gourmet Italian water ice to customers. DeCesare's wife, Diane DeCesare (yes, that Diane), handles accounting and other financial matters. Mark and Diane both grew up in Philadelphia.

Worthington said working at Diane's, which closes each winter due to a slowdown in customers, is the least complicated part of her life routine.   

"When I was young, I really enjoyed having off in the winter to travel. Now that I'm married, I get to be a stay-at-home mom for those months," she explained, adding that when Diane’s is open "I don't come in till 5. So, I'm mom all day and then I come here and it's the easy part of the day."

Most of Diane's customers are making returns visits, according to DeCesare.

"About 90% of our customers are regulars," he said. In addition, "the kids that first started working here, they're now full-fledged adults with families and they come back if they're still local."

The gamble he and Diane took nearly 30 ago has paid off.

"It's always worked well for us," he said.

IF YOU GO:

Diane’s Gourmet Italian Water Ices is at 2999 East Evesham Road in Voorhees. During the summer, the shop is open from noon to 10 p.m., seven days a week. In the spring and fall, the shop is open from noon to 9:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and from noon to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The shop closes each winter, and its website is https://www.dianeswaterice.com/.