Thrifty "square" ice cream scoops already sold out

It was about four years ago that my friend Jessica brought me to an L.A. drugstore for some "square" ice cream. I was charmed by the oddly-shaped scoops (which I realize are not really square but cylindrical) we were served at that Rite-Aid that afternoon. Last winter, in Palm Springs, she brought me to another in-store ice cream counter for some more. Still charmed. Cut to this week when I found out that Rite-Aid* started selling the contraptions that turns ice cream into tiny top hats... and had already sold out!

Chris Nichols of Los Angeles Magazine:

A friend posted a picture on Instagram, then I noticed the scoopers started showing up on eBay, where one near Hemet drew 25 bids and sold for $121.50. There were sightings and rumors of them in the wild, but after a mid-week survey of more than a dozen stores left me empty-handed, I figured it might be a Bigfoot story. Maybe some prototypes had escaped into the wild. The store manager even speculated that they might not return. Theyre just testing them out, she told me. Another store clerk had tipped me off that they might be expecting a new batch at the end of the week so I took a chance, and ended up walking away with one of the gadgets for $19.99.

So, after reading this, I looked at overpriced eBay listings, and thought I might find one around here (San Francisco Bay Area). "Maybe they're just sold out in L.A.," I naively thought. Read the rest