Rite Aid

I agree that the ice cream is great. Been eating Thirfty’s Ice Cream since the late 1960’s and it’s always good stuff.
However…
The overall experience of the store is pretty much typical Madera; dirty, run down, neglected, etc. This is a store that was built in the 1960’s and it shows. Don’t expect the HVAC system to keep you cool in summer or warm in winter.
Then there’s plenty of trash drifting about the parking lot, and the sidewalk in front of the doors was last cleaned during the Reagan Administration. In a word, nasty. You don’t want to see the bathroom, but don’t worry you probably won’t as they are pretty careful who they loan the key to, i.e. teenage boys need to go before they get to the store cuz’ they’re not about to let you in there.
The staff are nice, and they always try hard to serve and are friendly. But the store just feels like so much of Madera, seen better days and tired of trying.
All that having been said, we shop there all the time. Crazy? Well it’s close to our house and we get the big Wellness + discount of 20% on everything and, here’s the main reason, it’s 10x’s better than shopping at the Madera Wal-​mart. This Rite Aid is never crowded, expect for the ice cream counter, but the store is usually quiet and easy to browse and find what you need. Wal-​Mart in Madera is a seething mass of humanity, about as pleasant a shopping experience as eye-​surgery, so we usually go to this Rite Aid because, while it’s dirty and run down, at least it’s calm and the staff are nice.

By far the best ice cream in town! If you haven’t tried their store made ice cream you are missing out. This place is highly recommended for the ice cream alone. I recommend the rocky road and their cookies-​n-​cream.