Halo Top Opening Another Scoop Shop, This Time in Santa Monica

Healthy(ish) ice cream shop Halo Top is opening a third LA-based scoop shop, this time at Santa Monica’s bustling Third Street Promenade. The highly-trafficked retail strip just steps from the beach seems like the ideal location for the burgeoning ice cream brand, which boasts fewer calories than traditional ice cream.

The Santa Monica Daily Press writes that Halo Top will open on Santa Monica Boulevard in between Bibibop (formerly ShopHouse) and Yogurtland, providing some stiff new frozen dessert competition to the block. With just 360 calories a pint, the immense marketing push behind Halo Top helped it to beat out long-established Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen-Dazs last year with $342 million dollars in sales.

Earlier this year, Halo Top opened new scoop shops inside the Westfield Century City and Westfield Topanga. In Century City, it joined the ranks of Eataly’s gelato counter, Bacio di Latte, Rori’s Artisanal Creamery, Smitten Ice Cream, and Grom, making it perhaps the densest cluster of artisan ice cream shops in LA.

Halo Top’s Santa Monica spot should give it prime placement in the recent ice cream wars, which brought in Salt & Straw, McConnell’s, Jeni’s, Van Leeuwen, and Fatamorgana, in addition to homegrown creameries Sweet Rose, Wanderlust, and Coolhaus.

• Halo Top Scoop Shop to open near Third Street Promenade [SMDP]
• 22 Outstanding Ice Cream and Gelato Shops in LA [ELA]