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The Rita's Italian Ice Story
Ancient Roots
It’s well documented that the heritage of modern day Water Ice dates back to Ancient Rome and Greece. It is said that the Romans would often infuse handfuls of Mount Etna's snow with wines and syrups as a special delicacy. In fact, Sicily is often cited as the birthplace of modern water ice as far as the Western world is concerned. The flavors most common to the western part of Sicily are still among those that are popular today: lemon and coffee.
Europe and the New World
Water ice appears to have become more popular and available in Europe around the same time as ice cream did - in the second half of the 17th century. The same technique was used to make both products. No one can say for sure if the modern form of water ice was first prepared in Italy, France or Spain. Whatever the point of origin, it’s consumption spread quickly between the cities of Europe and eventually crossed the English Channel to Britain. Of course, it was only a matter of time until British and European settlers in the “new world” brought their favorite cool desert treat to America – particularly to the newly established cities of the Atlantic Coast.
Rita's is Founded
The story of Rita's Italian Ice dates back to the sweltering hot summer of 1984 when Bob Tumolo, a former Philadelphia firefighter, decided to open a small Italian Ice business to augment his income. He opened his first store in Bensalem, Pennsylvania and named the business after his wife, Rita.
Bob and his mother, Elizabeth, set to work – making their special formulation of Italian Ice fresh daily. They collaborated to perfect the flavors and consistency of the frozen treat. The mother and son team added chunks of fresh fruit to the recipes and made sure to throw away any unsold product after 36 hours. The Italian Ice, which was also referred to as water ice, was a big hit with Philadelphians, who are arguably the most discriminating water ice eaters in the United States.
Although Bob began by selling the “made fresh daily” Italian Ice from a small porch window, he and his brother John had opened three more stores in the Philadelphia area by 1987 because of increasing demand. Soon, customers started approaching Tumolo, wanting to know how they too could own a Rita's. So in 1989, Tumolo started franchising the business and by 1996, Rita's had grown to more than 100 stores in nine states.
Rita's first location in Bensalem, Pa.
A New Day for Rita's
In May 2005, a new era in the evolution of Rita's was ushered in with the sale of the franchise system to McKnight Capital Partners, a private equity group led by Jim Rudolph and his brother Bill. Having owned and operated 48 of the nation’s highest-performing Wendy’s restaurants for more than 20 years, Jim knew that the potential for the Rita’s franchise business was endless.
Rita's continued to see unprecedented growth during this period of time: the number of franchise agreements doubled from 109 in 2005 to 219 in 2006 and the number of new store openings per year dramatically increased from 33 stores in 2005 to 68 in 2006 and to 100 in 2007.
From a single store on the porch of a home in Philadelphia in 1984, Rita's Ice had grown tremendously. In 2007, Rita's opened its 500th location in Mooresville, North Carolina and marked a special milestone in 2009 when the concept celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Rita's celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a special celebration
at location at 1227 Bristol Pike in Andalusia, just outside Philadelphia.
Growing Stronger
In December of 2011, a controlling interest in Rita’s was sold to Falconhead Capital, LLC. Founded in 1998, Falconhead is a leading investment firm focused on operationally-intensive control investments in small to lower middle-market companies. Falconhead takes a proactive operating approach to value creation by targeting transactions in niche growth verticals where they can leverage their substantial financial, operational, and strategic resources to help businesses pursue growth opportunities and other value building strategies.
With over $500 million of aggregate capital commitments, Falconhead's Funds are managed by an investment team that collectively has extensive experience in both operations and finance. Falconhead's limited partners include a number of leading public and private pension funds, banks, foundations, and endowments.
Falconhead is very pleased to be able to add Rita’s to its current group of portfolio companies focused on consumer leisure and lifestyle industries in the US. Unlike many traditional investment firms which rely on financial engineering to produce returns, Falconhead has generated superior returns by helping to build and grow great businesses. They employ teams of dedicated professionals who have extensive experience developing and supporting new growth strategies, strengthening management teams, and recruiting high quality board members.
Rita's announced the appointment of Jonathan Fornaci to the positions of President and CEO and Thomas Christopoul as Executive Chairman of the Board. Jonathan and Tom bring more than 30 collective years of operational, retail, franchising and brand building experience to their new roles with Rita's.
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Cool Treats
