Rita’s Italian Ice Makes Move to Convenience Channel

Italian Ice concept opens first fuel retailer location in California, with 60 more planned throughout the country by 2025.

July 29, 2015

TREVOSE, Penn. – Rita’s Italian Ice, an Italian Ice concept with more than 600 stores globally, announced this week that it will enter the convenience and fuel retailing channel nationwide, with two area development agreements.

The agreements were awarded to M&M ARC Inc. for the development of the West market, and to Ice & Go LLC for the development of the Midwest, South and Northeast markets. Together, the two agreements call for 60 units by 2025 — the first of which opened its doors last month in Newbury Park, California at the Chevron ExtraMile convenience store.

“The convenience and gas channel allows us to further penetrate the market, while presenting franchisees with even more opportunity,” said Mo Boutara, senior director of franchise development at Rita’s Franchise Company.

M&M ARC Inc., Rita’s area developer for the West Coast, is led by c Meenu Sandhu and her husband, Madhusudan, who together have more than 40 years of experience in the convenience and fuel retailing industry. As part of the aggressive 10-year plan, Sandhu and her team will open 30 Rita’s Italian Ice locations throughout the western region of the United States.

The second franchise is coming soon to Paducah, Kentucky, where franchisee TA Operating LLC will open Rita’s Ice at the TravelCenters of America Minit Mart, while area developer Scott Stevens of Ice & Go LLC will lead the charge in developing Rita’s presence in the convenience space throughout the Midwest and along the East Coast, planning for 30 stores within 10 years. Stevens, who also serves as president and chief manager of Lucky Oil Company, is slated to open Rita's Ice in August 2015 at Lucky’s Station, a branded Gulf station in Stillwater, Minnesota.

With more than 30 years in business, Rita’s Italian Ice has been aggressively expanding across the United States and internationally, with new concepts and locations now open in the Philippines and Canada, and coming soon in the Middle East and the Caribbean.

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