Our History

The Rita's Water Ice Story

The story of Rita's Water Ice dates back to the sweltering summer of 1984 when Bob Tumolo, a former Philadelphia firefighter, decided to open a small Italian Ice business to augment his income. Tumolo opened his first store in Bensalem, Pa. and named the business after his wife, Rita.

Bob and his mother, Elizabeth, set to work – making their product 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 threw away any unused product after 36 hours. The Italian Ice, 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 stores in the Philadelphia area by 1987. Soon, customers started approaching Tumolo, wanting to know how they could own a Rita's Water Ice. In 1989, Tumolo started franchising the business, and by 1996, Rita's had grown to more than 100 stores in nine states.

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 47 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.

Jim immediately embraced the transition of “franchisee turned franchisor” and took the helm of the largest Italian Ice concept in the industry as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Leveraging his knowledge of the franchising world, his belief in the importance of staff development and a passion for delivering service excellence to franchise partners and guests alike, Rudolph immediately developed an aggressive growth plan to take Rita's to the next level.

 Spreading Happiness

Under Rudolph's leadership, Rita's has continued to see unprecedented growth: the number of franchise agreements awarded has doubled from 109 in 2005 to 219 in 2006 and the number of new store openings per year has dramatically increased from 33 stores in 2005 to 68 in 2006 and to 100 in 2007. Rudolph, with help from Rita's franchise partners and staff at the Cool Support Center (Rita's corporate headquarters) plans to expand the chain and continue to build the thriving concept.

From a single store on the porch of a home in Philadelphia in 1984, Rita's Water Ice has grown tremendously. In 2005, Rita's had more than 300 locations and in November 2007, Rita's opened its 500th location in Mooresville, North Carolina.

The brand continues to thrive and more stores are being opened each day to spread the happiness of the Rita’s experience.