Business & Tech

Rita's Bringing Ice Custard Happiness to Crescenta Valley

Owner Chris Rodgers, a former Division I and European pro basketball player, tells Patch about bringing a taste of the East Coast to LCF.

With over 600 shops mostly located on the East Coast, Rita's Italian Ice is well known to many along the Eastern seaboard but to few here in the Crescenta Valley and Southern California. But with a Rita's set to open on Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge on Aug. 12, folks in the CV will soon be able to try it out. 

Patch recently caught up with owner Chris Rodgers, who told us all about Rita's, as well as his own background, which includes playing Division I basketball and pro ball in Germany. Read our interview to learn more:

Patch: Tell me about your new business. 

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Chris Rodgers: Rita’s, I grew up on Rita’s. It’s one of my favorite desserts. I’m from the East Coast. They gave us an opportunity to bring it out here to the West Coast, so we jumped on it. Me and my dad are partners. But he’s staying back on the East Coast behind the scenes, so I will be running it. We have Italian ice, custard and a combination of the two, milkshakes and sundaes with unlimited toppings. Gelati, an ice sandwich is what I like to call it—it’s a layer of custard, a layer of ice and another layer of custard. We have frozen lemon-aides, milkshakes and a blendini, which is similar to a mcflurry. And also a misto, which is a full blend of custard and ice and you sip it though a straw. We’re just excited to be here and to bring it to La Cañada, a little taste of home and what we like to call ice custard happiness.

Patch: Tell me about Rita’s. I’m not familiar with it. Is it a franchise?

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Rodgers: It’s a franchise. It was founded in 1984 back in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Or Trevos, actually. Headquarters is in Trevos now. It’s huge on the East Cost, we have 600-plus outlets now, with our newest one opening up in California back in April. One in Santa Clarita, Redondo, Carlsbad just recently opened up. Also Mission Viejo. And then ourselves in La Cañada as well as Santa Monica are opening up the same day, Aug. 12.

Patch: Do you own that one too?

Rodgers: No, that’s a different franchisee.

Patch: Did you come out here for this?

Rodgers: I’ve been out here for a year and a half. My fiancé is from California. Before this I was playing professional basketball in Germany.

Patch: No kidding?

Rodgers: Yeah, and so when I retired I moved out here with her, and my dad brought me the idea of possibly getting into business for ourselves and running a company or a business, and I jumped on it. Playing basketball and having so much freedom, it was tough to I guess do that regular 9 to 5, it took some getting used to and to get back into the swing of things. And when I was doing that he came in with this idea, and for me it was a no brainer. I jumped on it. Because I was already out here we decided to bring it out here. Back home it's only open seven, eight months out of the year. They open up in March and close maybe in October. So the opportunity to have it out here and have it open year round, it’s like, I get to have Rita’s 24-7 now, so it’s a lot better.

Patch: Yeah, it’s hot here all year round.

Rodgers: We wanted to get it open a little earlier in the summer, but things happened. But we’re at a great place now, opening up right before school. It’s normally the hottest part of the year, August and September, so we’re excited about that.

Patch: Yeah, you got three schools right up the street. That McDonald’s up the street is always packed with kids during the school year, and Panera, so yeah, I think they’ll love it.

Rodgers: I’m learning  that.

Patch: During the school year, this whole area is packed with kids, they’re everywhere.

Rodgers: Yeah, I guess everybody has been on vacation the last couple of weeks. I’m getting to know it.

At this point in our conversation, which we were having on the sidewalk outside of the shop, a man walks up to us and stops. 

Man: Hi, when do you guys open?

Rodgers: We open Aug. 12.

Man: Oh, thank God, it’s starting to get hot!

We both laugh and continue talking as the man walks away. 

Patch: Alright, I got to ask about your ball career, that’s pretty fascinating. Where did you go to college?

Rodgers: I went to Bucknell University on the East Coast.

Patch: What division is that?

Rodgers: Division I. It’s the Patriot League, so we were in the league with Layfayette, Army, Navy, those schools.

Patch: Were you a small forward, point guard?

Rodgers: Point guard, point guard. But after that I wanted to continue to play, and had an opportunity to go overseas through an exposure camp, a draft camp in Germany. And that’s when I first met my fiancé, she was playing. And we ended up going back together a month later, and we were with different teams in different parts. I was in Cologne, the Dusseldorf area, which is northwest Germany. And then my last two years I was in north Germany closer to Berlin.

Patch: Wow, how many years did you play?

Rodgers: Four and a half years.

Patch: What made you decide to stop?

Rodgers: Um, a combination of just getting homesick a bit. I’m out there 10 and a half months out of the year and was starting to miss family and didn’t get to see them and talk to them as much as I wanted to. We’re basically a whole day ahead of them, so when I’m sleeping they’re awake and I’m missing so much. I caught all my news on Facebook and social media. And then at the same time, my last year it was really tough getting a job, because that was the year of the lockout, because a lot of players were going overseas, so there was less opportunities for us non-NBA players.

Patch: That’s right, they all flooded over there. I forgot about that.

Rodgers: I was just like, you know, it’s been a great run. I had a great time and accomplished everything I wanted to and it’s time to do something else. And that’s when I came back here and got into this. 

Rita's Italian Ice is located at 468 Foothill Boulevard in LCF. 


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