Iconic Thrifty Ice Cream is making a comeback — here’s where to buy a scoop of nostalgia this summer

This summer, Southern California’s cherished Thrifty Ice Cream is making a sweet return — launching nationwide shipping, popping up in major grocery stores, and reviving its nostalgic ice cream truck to delight SoCal streets once again.

The 86-year-old ice cream brand’s future was thrown into doubt last year after Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy and shuttered hundreds of stores, wiping out many of the old-school Thrifty scoop counters that generations of Californians grew up with.

But the cult-favorite brand, founded in West Hollywood and famous for its cylindrical scoops and flavors like Chocolate Malted Krunch, Rocky Road and Mint ’N Chip, has been rescued after Hilrod Holdings — the parent company tied to Monster Energy executives Hilton Schlosberg and Rodney Sacks — snapped up Thrifty’s assets for $19.2 million.

Now, the company is plotting a full-scale revival across Southern California and beyond, according to Eater Los Angeles.

Starting May 18, Thrifty began offering nationwide shipping for 48-ounce tubs and 12-packs of ice cream cups through its website, including limited-edition flavors Cherry Chip and Circus Animal Cookie.

Costco stores across Southern California have already started carrying 3.6-ounce cups of Chocolate Malted Krunch, while Albertsons and Food4Less are expected to roll out additional Thrifty products, including classic flavors and a new patriotic sherbet dubbed Red, White, and Blue.

The flavor — made with cherry, lemon and blue raspberry — was created to celebrate America’s upcoming Semiquincentennial.

A retired fan-favorite flavor is also making a permanent comeback— the Birthday Cake.

But perhaps the ultimate nostalgia trip is Thrifty’s newly branded ice cream truck, set to roll through Southern California all summer, dishing out cool scoops to sun-soaked Angelenos.

This comeback signals a major turnaround for a brand many Californians worried would vanish forever after Rite Aid’s collapse nearly erased a beloved ice cream institution.

For generations, Thrifty’s affordable scoops inside local drugstores became a Southern California rite of passage, and its signature flat-top scooper earned a devoted following all its own.

The company says the revival will also include updated packaging and expanded retail distribution, though it plans to keep the original recipes that made the brand a freezer-aisle staple in the first place.

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