Thrifty Ice Cream Packaging
Posted: June 29th, 2019, 7:25 pm
It appears that RAD is phasing in new packaging for Thrifty Ice Cream out west. Still produced by Thrifty Payless, Inc.
Same for gas stations in Las Vegas and in Arizona. I've also seen Thrifty Ice Cream at Seafood City and Smart & Final. It seems to be gone from both of those at this time.Alpha8472 wrote: ↑July 5th, 2019, 6:31 pm Thrifty Ice Cream is now being sold at select Rite Aid stores in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Eight flavors are being sold.
Of course, you can find Thrifty Ice Cream at gas stations in California. I have seen hand scooped cones offered at a 76 Station. I also saw Thrifty Ice Cream at the Cardenas Markets chain.
In California, Thrifty Ice Cream has been offered continuously since Rite Aid took over. In places like Washington and Oregon, (with a few exceptions) the Thrifty name, along with the ice cream, pretty much disappeared 20+ years ago as the stores were rebranded, with most losing ice cream counters in the process. I don't think of Rite Aid (or Walgreens for that matter) as a place to buy ice cream. I do see potential though when you consider how many people are moving from California to Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.storewanderer wrote: ↑June 29th, 2019, 11:59 pm They are in the process of expanding distribution of Thrifty Ice Cream. It will be in all of the OR/WA Stores. Previously it was in some limited OR/WA Stores.
I think it will also be in all of the ID Stores.
Funny to see the older pre 1995 Thrifty logo back with a bit skinnier font and reversed colors.
I wonder if the Thrifty Ice Cream was sold in OR/WA or if it was some other vendor's ice cream. Back in the 80's when Thrifty was in Reno they had an ice cream counter but it sold Model Dairy ice cream. The stores did have walk in freezers in back though, for ice cream storage. Also the Thrifty Stores in Quincy, CA and Mt. Shasta, CA were the same way; they had ice cream counters but sold some other dairy's ice cream. None of these stores had the freezers for frozen prepack ice cream. It wasn't until Rite Aid took over that those rural California stores started to sell the actual Thrifty Ice Cream. But the stores down in Sacramento had the actual Thrifty Ice Cream.Super S wrote: ↑July 6th, 2019, 6:53 amIn California, Thrifty Ice Cream has been offered continuously since Rite Aid took over. In places like Washington and Oregon, (with a few exceptions) the Thrifty name, along with the ice cream, pretty much disappeared 20+ years ago as the stores were rebranded, with most losing ice cream counters in the process. I don't think of Rite Aid (or Walgreens for that matter) as a place to buy ice cream. I do see potential though when you consider how many people are moving from California to Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.storewanderer wrote: ↑June 29th, 2019, 11:59 pm They are in the process of expanding distribution of Thrifty Ice Cream. It will be in all of the OR/WA Stores. Previously it was in some limited OR/WA Stores.
I think it will also be in all of the ID Stores.
Funny to see the older pre 1995 Thrifty logo back with a bit skinnier font and reversed colors.
There were never any Thrifty stores in OR/WA, at least not in the 90's. I should know, I worked at corporate at the time of the Rite Aid merger. Thrifty did own Pay N Save during the 80s but that's about as close as they came to having stores in the NW. Thrifty ice cream was tested as a prepack in a few NW stores at that time but was never expanded for several reasons. One, ice cream is an incredibly seasonal item, more so than in Southern California, so staffing an ice cream counter was considered uneconomical and an ice cream counter was considered key to success. Second, trucking that stuff up to the NW from California was considered too expensive and ate into the margins. Thrifty Payless was a "thrifty" organization and wouldn't have outsourced this to a distributor.storewanderer wrote: ↑July 6th, 2019, 10:02 amI wonder if the Thrifty Ice Cream was sold in OR/WA or if it was some other vendor's ice cream. Back in the 80's when Thrifty was in Reno they had an ice cream counter but it sold Model Dairy ice cream. The stores did have walk in freezers in back though, for ice cream storage. Also the Thrifty Stores in Quincy, CA and Mt. Shasta, CA were the same way; they had ice cream counters but sold some other dairy's ice cream. None of these stores had the freezers for frozen prepack ice cream. It wasn't until Rite Aid took over that those rural California stores started to sell the actual Thrifty Ice Cream. But the stores down in Sacramento had the actual Thrifty Ice Cream.Super S wrote: ↑July 6th, 2019, 6:53 amIn California, Thrifty Ice Cream has been offered continuously since Rite Aid took over. In places like Washington and Oregon, (with a few exceptions) the Thrifty name, along with the ice cream, pretty much disappeared 20+ years ago as the stores were rebranded, with most losing ice cream counters in the process. I don't think of Rite Aid (or Walgreens for that matter) as a place to buy ice cream. I do see potential though when you consider how many people are moving from California to Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.storewanderer wrote: ↑June 29th, 2019, 11:59 pm They are in the process of expanding distribution of Thrifty Ice Cream. It will be in all of the OR/WA Stores. Previously it was in some limited OR/WA Stores.
I think it will also be in all of the ID Stores.
Funny to see the older pre 1995 Thrifty logo back with a bit skinnier font and reversed colors.
They won't install the service counters in these other states but just offer the prepack ice cream. The Rite Aid I saw in Oregon with this stuff years ago in Hillsboro (24 hour one if it is still 24 hours) had more than 8 flavors though.
Ice cream has a pretty long shelf life so they shouldn't have too much trouble with this even if they sell a minimal amount of it by way of buy one get one free sales, etc. Walgreens has had private label ice cream forever (seems to have been scaled back some over the years) too.
It looks like Thrifty had scattered NW presence long ago. Who knows if they even had the ice cream. https://groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=686babs wrote: ↑July 6th, 2019, 10:32 pm
There were never any Thrifty stores in OR/WA, at least not in the 90's. I should know, I worked at corporate at the time of the Rite Aid merger. Thrifty did own Pay N Save during the 80s but that's about as close as they came to having stores in the NW. Thrifty ice cream was tested as a prepack in a few NW stores at that time but was never expanded for several reasons. One, ice cream is an incredibly seasonal item, more so than in Southern California, so staffing an ice cream counter was considered uneconomical and an ice cream counter was considered key to success. Second, trucking that stuff up to the NW from California was considered too expensive and ate into the margins. Thrifty Payless was a "thrifty" organization and wouldn't have outsourced this to a distributor.
Thrifty had a store in Kelso, WA up until around 1989 or 1990, which did have an ice cream counter at the front. It was at that point rebranded to a Pay 'N Save, then PayLess, and is now Rite Aid. The store retains the original pharmacy location at the back of the store. Up until the most recent remodel, it also had the original flooring.babs wrote: ↑July 6th, 2019, 10:32 pm
There were never any Thrifty stores in OR/WA, at least not in the 90's. I should know, I worked at corporate at the time of the Rite Aid merger. Thrifty did own Pay N Save during the 80s but that's about as close as they came to having stores in the NW. Thrifty ice cream was tested as a prepack in a few NW stores at that time but was never expanded for several reasons. One, ice cream is an incredibly seasonal item, more so than in Southern California, so staffing an ice cream counter was considered uneconomical and an ice cream counter was considered key to success. Second, trucking that stuff up to the NW from California was considered too expensive and ate into the margins. Thrifty Payless was a "thrifty" organization and wouldn't have outsourced this to a distributor.