What is this world coming to?
I just got back from a trip to the Great North West. I visited my dad after 16 years of not traveling up his way. He's been down a few times and we've been in touch on the phone and on the internet....
Forum Discussion
Fredzo wrote:
In California, Rite Aid bought out the Thrifty Drug chain. They (Thrifty) were known for their hand dipped cones, and California Rite Aids (some of them) still have the ice cream counter.
You have to go back 'some' for that trivia!
When Thrifty Drug was in So.CA, the chain had something like 200 stores.
Sav-On had 20 (1960s) and did more volume than Thrifty's 200! (probably why Thrifty was sold).
Both were long before discount stores - like Zody's, K-Mart, etc. came on the scene, but Sav-On had 'discount' prices - and a better stocking plan.
Each store was it's own warehouse - while Thrifty kept minimal stock in the stores, relied on a central warehouse - resulting in 'outages' on the store shelves.
Like Thrifty, all Sav-On stores had an ice cream counter (hand-dipped), and like Thrifty - it was *not* their own brand.
(Sav-On was Carnation, forgot who supplied Thrifty).
Sav-On would have two or three gals (always busy) working at the ice cream counter during business hours, selling cones, hand-packed qts & 1/2 gallons - as well as 'commercially' packaged 1/2 gallons.
Single was 5 cents, double 10 cents. Thrifty would do "triples", but not Sav-On. (too many clean-ups).
When the younger generation of the Call family inherited the family business, they weren't interested in running a drug store chain and sold Sav-On also - and has been re-sold several times since.
Most of those stores are now CVS.
Doesn't matter - the ice cream counters have all disappeared.
The 'foot traffic' - won't support it.
Doubt a CVS (or a Rite Aid) could sell five cones in an hour - no matter what brand it was, LOL!
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