Rocco’s is the new name in water ice

The familiar red-and-white striped awnings are now green - and suddenly six local Rita's water ice stores have become Rocco's.

With five locations in Philadelphia and one in Wyndmoor, Rocco's is the new player in the water-ice business that is dominated by Rita's and its 550 stores in 18 states and the District of Columbia.

Rocco's, with just 90 employees, opened its doors in May under the ownership of Lori Reyes.

"When I was a little girl, my grandfather used to take me to South Philly, and we used to get Italian ice. So I'm trying to go back to the way flavors used to taste," Reyes said.

That means, for example, squeezing 90 lemons by hand on a cool day and 270 on a hot day. And all 22 flavors at Rocco's are fruit, except for root beer. Absent are flavors like Swedish fish, cotton candy, and chocolate peanut butter, all of which Rita's carries.

Rocco's is slightly cheaper, too, with a quart of water ice priced at $3.99. Rita's price is set by each franchise owner, but the average in Philadelphia is $4.58 per quart, Rita's representative Jess Phelan said.

Rocco's keeps its prices low, Reyes said, because she does not have to pay royalty and other franchise fees. "When I did the pricing, I actually took into account the economy," she said. "We want to be able to treat your family for under 10 bucks."

Despite the differences, Reyes has a history with Rita's. Her husband, Dan, was a Rita's franchisee for 13 years before he sold his nine stores in 2007, and Lori Reyes worked with him.

"When we were with Rita's, there were always a lot of things that I wanted to do differently. But we were stuck under the guidelines of the franchise," she said. At Rocco's, she creates her own fruit recipes.

Since her husband owned the real estate for five of his former Rita's stores, she opened Rocco's - named for her 3-year-old son - in those locations and rented a former's Rita's location for her sixth store.

This winter, while her six stores are closed for the season, she plans to scout for additional locations in the Philadelphia suburbs, including South Jersey.

Rita's wrote in an e-mail that it had plans for new stores within walking distance of some of the Rocco's outlets.

Joey Eason had been a Rita's customer, but he recently noticed that its Nicetown location had changed to Rocco's, so he gave the start-up business a try.

His verdict: "I think Rocco's is a little bit better."

He still frequents Rita's, though. "There ain't anything you can really do to water ice," he said. "You can put fruit in it. I mean, water ice is water ice."

But not everyone has noticed the change. Two miles away at a Rita's on Belfield Avenue, Greg Piccirilli ate his cherry water ice one day last week. Asked if he knew about the new chain, he answered, "What's Rocco's? A pizza place?"