This popular ice cream chain is closing 500 of its stores
Thrifty Ice Cream, a historic ice cream brand out of Los Angeles, will be closing 500 stores, as reported by The Street. The company launched in 1940 out of a West Hollywood factory, and then started serving it to patrons out of a Thrifty Drug Store in downtown Los Angeles. Over its 85 years of serving small batch ice cream, it's earned many accolades, countless prestigious awards and even shoutouts from Hollywood celebrities.
Thrifty is known for being served out of a square-topped scooper, so the cone you are presented isn't the traditional round shape but instead hockey puck shaped (but still with the frill like the flounce of a skirt at the bottom). While waiting for your prescription at more than 500 West Coast Rite Aid pharmacies, you could get a scoop. Better yet, you could bring a container home or buy a branded cake cup from more than 2,300 grocery stores and chain stores across the U.S. But that may be about to change.
Why is Thrifty closing down 500 stores?
Like many retailers, Rite Aid (where the scoop shops are) is facing bankruptcy. Many drugstore chains have been underperforming and closing locations, including CVS and Walgreens, in the wake of the pandemic. When a Rite Aid with a Thrifty counter closes, the ice cream service goes down as well.
Is there any hope?
It's possible that the ice cream brand could be purchased along with Rite Aid assets and be revived.
What are some of the unusual flavors Thrifty makes?
In late October 2024, Thrifty launched a Chuck E. Cheese birthday cake flavor in collaboration with the party giant. Other wild flavors include Siracha Swirl and bacon and cheddar.
Why the square scoop?
Unknown, but a Food & Wine cookware tester raved about it. As someone who used to scoop for Ben & Jerry's in Vermont and ruined my wrist for a summer, this branded device looks amazing because you push it down straight into the ice cream, using your body weight, rather than trying to skim sideways. It kind of resembles a law office stapler designed to get through enormous briefs.
Which celebrity loves Thrifty Ice Cream?
Kourtney Kardashian Barker. Two of her favorite flavors are rainbow sherbet and butter pecan. At her fabulous Camp Poosh before Coachella, she had a little Thrifty stand on the grounds.
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