Thrifty ice cream returns to shelves nationwide: fans rush to buy nostalgic pints

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• What’s available now and soon
• Where to buy — quick guide

This spring, a familiar Southern California flavor is staging a comeback. Thrifty Ice Cream—an 86-year-old staple whose scoops once lined pharmacy counters across Los Angeles—has returned to store shelves and is shipping nationwide, easing concerns that the brand would vanish after Rite Aid’s 2025 collapse.

When Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy and shuttered most locations in 2025, many Thrifty counters closed with them, leaving fans without the quick cone or a pint of rainbow sherbet at the corner drugstore. The liquidation erased hundreds of jobs and seemed to threaten a decades-old local ritual: the pharmacy counter scoop.

In June 2025, investment firm Hilrod Holdings—best known as the owner of Monster Energy—won Thrifty in a $19.2 million bid. Company leaders later pledged to keep the brand’s production humming at the El Monte plant and to preserve the original recipes that helped make Thrifty a regional icon.

That promise has begun to translate into products on shelves. In early May 2026, Costco locations across Southern California started offering a 12-pack of 3.6-ounce cups of Chocolate Malted Krunch, the flavor many associate with the brand’s cylindrical scoops. Within days, Thrifty announced broader plans: nationwide shipping, new limited-edition flavors, and a renewed retail rollout.

What’s available now and soon

Thrifty’s immediate offerings mix nostalgia with a few new moves aimed at summer demand. Key points to know:

• May 11, 2026 — Select Southern California Costco stores began selling 12-packs of 3.6-ounce Chocolate Malted Krunch cups.
• May 18, 2026 — Thrifty opened nationwide shipping on its website. Shipments include 48-ounce tubs and the same 12-packs sold at Costco.
• Limited editions announced for the initial online run: Cherry Chip and Circus Animal Cookie.
• A special sherbet, Red, White, and Blue (cherry, lemon, blue raspberry), was created for the U.S. Semiquincentennial and is rolling into retailers—Albertsons will stock it soon.
• Thrifty’s sprinkle-studded Birthday Cake flavor has returned as a permanent offering, and Food4Less will carry the lineup alongside other grocers joining the distributor network.

Beyond packaged goods, the company is preparing a roving Thrifty truck to serve scoops across the Southland through the hotter months. A store locator on Thrifty’s site helps customers find independent outlets carrying pints, gallons, or single-serve cups across California, Nevada, and Arizona.

For longtime fans, there’s a practical question: how will supermarket tubs compare to the pharmacy-counter experience? Company executives insist the recipes remain unchanged, an important detail for those who equate Thrifty with a specific texture and flavor profile. Retail cartons and pre-packed cups inevitably differ from a freshly scooped cone, but the renewed distribution restores access for many who lost it after Rite Aid’s closures.

I confess a personal stake: I keep a vintage Thrifty scoop at home, a small reminder of those quick stops for a cone after a movie or a ballgame. For thousands of Angelenos, the brand carries the same everyday nostalgia—and for now, it looks like those cones will be back within reach.

Where to buy — quick guide

• Costco (Southern California) — 12-pack 3.6-ounce Chocolate Malted Krunch cups (rolling availability).
• Thrifty Ice Cream website — Nationwide shipping starting May 18: 48-ounce tubs and 12-packs; limited-edition flavors included.
• Albertsons — Stocking Red, White, and Blue sherbet in the coming weeks.
• Food4Less and other grocers — Carrying classic flavors, limited editions, and the new RWB sherbet as distribution expands.
• Check Thrifty’s online store locator for independent scoop shops and local availability across CA, NV, and AZ.

Why this matters: the revival of Thrifty restores more than ice cream to the region. It reconnects communities to a local food memory, protects jobs tied to the brand’s factory, and offers grocery retailers a proven product during peak selling season. If you grew up on those cones, the next few weeks are a good time to see how the brand looks—and tastes—under new ownership.