So Cal Famous Beach Ice, a manufacturer of gourmet sorbet, granita, Italian ice, and Philadelphia water ice, is getting ready to open its first brick-and-mortar in Poway at 13538 Poway Rd, Ste D.
The company’s first storefront will move into the former home of Everbowl in the Town & Country business center, according to documents recently submitted to the City of San Diego. Owner Scott Strickland tells What Now San Diego that the company is waiting on permits and hopes to open between March and May 2025. This is a massive achievement for the owners of So Cal Famous Beach Ice, considering the company has participated in over 25 different San Diego farmer’s markets since its inception, including five in North County that the owners attend consistently.
After being in the industry since 2008 and doing business in the LA area, Strickland moved to San Diego in November 2014 with the vision of bringing these delicious ice treats to the area. Once Strickland moved to San Diego, he struggled to gain traction but continued to push his products at farmer’s markets, including in Escondido, San Marcos, Temecula, Oceanside, and Scripps Ranch. Now, for the first time, the company will open its first brick-and-mortar, offering a variety of ice-based desserts, such as vegan ice cream made with natural, fruit, and fun flavors.
“After moving to San Diego, which was an untapped market at the time, nobody knew what Italian Ice was, and we struggled to find our demographic,” according to the company’s website. “We started a small location at Plaza Bonita Mall in National City, and expenses were so high, with the cost of shipping products, cold storage, mall rent, and labor, we ended the year of 2015 very discouraged and had a hard time seeing much of a future for the company. If we didn’t start making our own product and finding another venue to sell our product, we were going to be in trouble. We rented a kitchen and started manufacturing products with our own recipes and selling our products at farmers’ markets all over San Diego County.”
