Customers will miss the great ice cream, and the scents of fresh cones being made, when Sweet Rose Creamery closes in Pacific Palisades March 1.
Say goodbye to Fresh Mint Chip and Cookies & Cream, the best-selling flavors at Sweet Rose Ice Creamery, located in the Monument Building off Sunset.
A sign posted on the front door says the shop will close.
Circling the News contacted Elise Freimuth, director of communication for Sweet Rose and the Rustic Canyon Family, who responded, “Our last day that we will be open at that site will be February 29.”
“We’d love to have all our regulars swing by to say goodbye, get an ice cream cone and stock up on some pints,” Freimuth said. “We’ve truly loved being a part of this neighborhood for the past four and a half years.”
CTN had heard the lease was up and wondered if an increase in rent had anything to do with the decision.
“Closing this particular location isn’t related to any matter with a lease,” Freimuth said. “Years ago, we thought we wanted to turn Sweet Rose Creamery into a multi-unit business, so we could support the development of our key people there. We had a few shops spread across Los Angeles and have gradually closed them to dedicate ourselves to the Santa Monica locations.”
Freimuth explained that co-owners Josh Loeb, who grew up in Rustic Canyon, and Zoe Nathan, who grew up in Santa Monica, “soul-searched and come to the realization that we’re better smaller.
“The move is more in line with the ethos of the rest of our Rustic Canyon Family, which only does one-off restaurants.” The couple own Rustic Canyon (2006) Huckleberry Bakery and Café (2009), Milo & Olive (2011), Cassia (2015) and Esters Wine Shop & Bar (2015), Tallula’s (2017), Milo SRO (2019) Cassia Rice & Noodle Kitchen (2019) and Birdie G’s (2019). (To read about the restaurants, visit: https://www.rusticcanyonfamily.com/our-story)
Freimuth said Loeb and Nathan, who have three children, ages 9, 6 and 4, believe that by “being smaller, it also allows us to be more dynamic.”
There are two other Sweet Rose Creamery shops: Brentwood Country Mart and Santa Monica Main Street.
Initially, Loeb didn’t plan a Sweet Rose in the Palisades because it was so close to the couple’s store in Brentwood, but when Baskin-Robbins closed on Swarthmore, he changed his mind.
The store opened on Monument in August 2015, featuring ice cream products that were all made from scratch: the dairy base, the cones, even marshmallows, with a focus on using the best organic ingredients from local farmers.
Baskin-Robbins, the only ice cream store in town, closed its doors in December 2013. This left two frozen-yogurt stores–Toppings and The Yogurt Shoppe–but people clamored for ice cream.
The day Sweet Rose opened, customers Nolan and Georgia Miller and Anna and Gaby Bartle, between licks of chocolate, vanilla and mint, described the ice cream as “amazing,” “delicious,” “wow” and “great.”
Caruso’s Palisades Village mall opened in September 2018 with a McConnell’s ice cream store, just a block from Sweet Rose. Did that have anything to do with the decision to close this month?
“No,” Freimuth said, adding that the co-owners “like to be super hands-on every day at all of the restaurants.”
Loeb added, “We personally loved the Palisades shop and are sad to see it go, but it makes sense for Sweet Rose Creamery overall to be smaller.”
“We’re incredibly excited about Sweet Rose’s future,” Freimuth said. “Our first location at the Brentwood Country Mart turns 10 this May, so we look forward to having all of our Palisadian friends and neighbors come out and celebrate with us!”
The co-owners, who live in Loeb’s Rustic Canyon family house, hope that all of the store’s fans will visit the parlors in Brentwood or Santa Monica. Visit: sweetrosecreamery.com.
Josh Loeb, who grew up in Rustic Canyon, and Zoe Nathan, own nine restaurants in addition to three Sweet Rose Creamery ice cream stores.
Noooooooooo! 🙁
Love sweet rose creamery.