Rita's opened in the summer of 1984. Asphalt was bubbling. Swimming pools were evaporating. The tires were melting off of ice cream trucks. Needless to say, it was a very successful summer, but it wasn't due to just the weather In the months preceding the May grand opening of the first Rita's store, Bob Tumolo and his mother, Elizabeth, were busy experimenting on recipes for Italian water ice. A fresh-squeezed lemon here, some chunks of fruit there - eventually the Tumolo's found themselves with quite possibly the best Italian Ice they had ever tasted.

That Friday in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, the response was overwhelming - people really seemed to love it. Word of mouth spread like Italian Ice on a hot summer sidewalk. In 1985, Bob's brother John Tumolo joined the business, and a second location was added in 1987. By 1989, the family decided to franchise its stores.

In May of 2005, Rita's was purchased by Pittsburgh-based McKnight Capital Partners under the direction of CEO Jim Rudolph. Today Rita's is the nation's largest Italian Ice chain with more than 400 stores and an aggressive growth plan of 1,500 stores by 2,010.