The Brief

That iconic shape. Those vivid colors. The super affordable price! As we bid goodbye to Thrifty ice cream counters amid the Rite Aid chain shutdown, we wanted to take a moment to allow people to process their very deep feelings about this fateful event.

Many of you have cherished childhood memories of cold ice cream in hot summers, family visits, bygone birthday treats, or more recent must-have drop-ins. So we've gathered together what people have been saying in different places, online, on LAist 89.3's AirTalk, and among the LAist staff as a form of farewell.

“Back in the 80s and 90s, the whole store was called Thrifty. My local Thriftys were converted to Rite Aid in 1996, but the Thrifty ice cream counter was kept.”
- Carlos Gonzalez on Instagram @relicsofretail

"Thrifty Ice Cream was part of Thrifty Drug stores, originally started in Los Angeles but spread to Northern California. My grandfather always shopped at Thrifty Drugs. He had frugal sensibilities but was always good for a scoop of ice cream. I always got a scoop of Black Cherry or Coconut Pineapple. Today was a day of nostalgia and at 10am I got a scoop of Cherry and Chocolate Chip (no Black Cherry available 😞 ).”
-Julie F on Instagram @jflo_in_ca

“They actually opened a Thriftys ice cream counter in my hometown gas station…super random but the rite aid location closed YEARS ago so it was a miracle walking into the gas station and seeing my favorite ice cream lol.”
-Foreverbeccatake2 on Reddit

“Someone gave us a Thrifty ice cream scoop for Christmas and omg I swear the shape makes any ice cream taste better”
-Skski on Reddit

“Thrifty has hands down the BEST ice cream and has always stayed affordable!!! The pistachio has so many pistachios.... the malted crunch!! And my favorite is the mint-chip!!! I love the tiny slivers of chocolate.. WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO????”
-T-ThatsMe on Reddit

"Thrifty was such a huge part of my childhood birthday cake, ice cream, you will be missed. RUN TO RITE AID BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE”
- Brook & Haley on Tiktok

"I think the three things that make it really unique is the shape that it came in. That cylindrical scooper was extremely unique and weird, and it made you feel like you were getting something special for a pretty affordable price. Two, the colors are extremely bright and vivid and appealing to not just kids.... And the third thing was that they shaved their chocolate which makes it so much easier to eat, where it just melts on your tongue as opposed to crunching big, huge pieces of chocolate, which always turned me off.
-Ivy in Burbank on AirTalk

"You could even get a single scoop if you brought in an old telephone book. When the telephone books were changed out, you could go in and get a single scoop for your kid, and my daughter would go around the neighborhood and collect old telephone books so she could turn 'em in."
-Belinda on AirTalk

" I used to work for Rite Aid and I scooped ice cream all the time. You used to be able to pay for us to scoop you a pint. That was more expensive than buying it outta the freezer, but customers always swore it was better. I thought that was so strange. It didn't taste any different to me, but all the customers swore by it. They also said that if you got a nut ice cream [scooped by us], that it had more nuts than the ones in the boxes."
-Adriana in Cerritos, on AirTalk

The iconic Thrifty ice cream counter

(

Steve Holtzman/LAist

)

LAist staff

"Chocolate malted crunch was everything!"
-Libby Rainey, Reporter, Early Childhood

"I was always vanilla or chocolate chip, I grew up in HP ( Huntington Park, not Highland Park lol) and the Thrifty on Gage and Pacific was where we went...for 10 cents a scoop my mom could never say no to getting ice cream when everything else I asked for was a no."
-Cynthia Covarrubias, Senior Human Resources Generalist

"I walked down with my cousins to Rite Aid one time in the summer, and we grabbed one 15-qt tub of strawberry cheesecake to share with little plastic spoons. That tub didn't even last halfway the walk back to their home. It was gone. It was pretty tasty! That was probably the first time I tried it (I usually get chocolate chip cookie dough)."
-David Rodriguez, Partnerships Producer

"Thrifty mint chocolate chip is the ONLY mint chocolate chip. I used it every year in my signature birthday dessert. It's an icebox cake! I used to use Famous Chocolate Wafers, but they were discontinued, so now I make my own. And I've tried many other mint ice creams (used in place of whipped cream), but Thrifty is the best. I've been having the same cake for about 30 years now."
-Lucie Russo, Development Events Manager

"I fondly remember my parents treating us to some Thrifty ice cream at a Rite Aid in Anaheim. But over time, it started to feel like you were really inconveniencing the Rite Aid employees if you wanted a scoop. The workers also had to ring up shoppers, stock the shelves and take care of other drug store duties. It may be the haze of childhood nostalgia, but I recall a time when you didn't need to flag someone down. There always just seemed to be someone waiting at the ice cream station to help. A similar thing happened when drug stores started locking so many products behind glass: sales declined. Short staffing at Rite Aids turned Thrifty ice cream from a treat into a hassle."
-David Wagner, Housing Reporter

"I don't remember Thrifty so much as a kid, BUT, early on in college, walking through DTLA on a hot day, I decided to grab some ice cream at Rite Aid. I ordered two scoops on a cone, having no idea about the size/shape of the scoops (big cylinders), and my ice cream cone was taller than me...."
-Sarah Steinman, Membership Manager

"I grew up in South Gate. Every Friday, my dad took me and my three sisters to Thrifty on Otis and Missouri. It didn't matter if we'd behaved. It was tradition. We were only allowed to get one scoop. I always got a chocolate chip on a sugar cone. To this day, no other chocolate chip ice cream can compare."
-Julia Barajas, Higher Ed Reporter

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

(

J.W. Hendricks

/

The LA Local

)

In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.