By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Granted, it’s an unusual name for a company that sells ice cream on the beach.
But the folks at Oil Depot LLC offered assurances they will sell the same popular chocolate bars, children’s novelty treats, ice cream sandwiches and other frozen goodies that beachgoers have come to love in Sea Isle City.
“Basically, it will be the same as it’s always been,” said Michele Ripoli, the wife of Nicky Ripoli, owner of Oil Depot.
Oil Depot is taking over as the new ice cream vendor on Sea Isle’s beaches this summer. The company beat out Sea Isle’s former beach ice cream vendor, the Fudgy Wudgy Man, by making a bigger offer to the city for a new two-year concession contract.
According to city officials, Oil Depot will pay Sea Isle a total of $784,000 over two years for the exclusive rights to sell ice cream and bottled water on the beach, far more than the $656,000 offer made by the Fudgy Wudgy Man.
City Council formally awarded the contract to Oil Depot during its meeting Tuesday. Mayor Leonard Desiderio was among the Sea Isle officials who were astonished by the amount of money that Oil Depot offered for the contract.
“We welcome them to Sea Isle. It tells you that there’s a lot of money in ice cream,” Desiderio said in an interview.
Oil Depot, as its name implies, is a home heating oil and service company based in Haddonfield, N.J.
But it also does business at the shore as a beach concessionaire. It formerly served as Sea Isle’s vendor for beach chairs and umbrellas.
Currently, Oil Depot is the ice cream vendor on North Wildwood’s beaches and also sells iced coffee on the beaches of Wildwood. At one time, it sold ice cream on the beaches of Margate and Longport.
In a separate contract, Sea Isle also has a vendor that sells iced coffee on the beaches.
Michele Ripoli said her husband got his start selling ice cream on the beach in Wildwood when he was just 9 years old. She noted that his interest in ice cream sales continued to grow and eventually became a sideline for Oil Depot.
“We are a family-run business and we added a twist to what we normally do as a company,” she said in an interview Wednesday.
As a beach ice cream vendor, Oil Depot sells a lot of Philadelphia Water Ice, frozen chocolate bars and the cartoon character novelty treats that are popular with children, Ripoli said.
Part of the company’s proceeds from ice cream and iced coffee sales are donated to support organizations that help military veterans and animal-care groups, she said.
Oil Depot donates money from its concession in North Wildwood to the Battle Buddy Foundation, a nonprofit that helps combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury and other disabilities by pairing them with service dogs.
Ripoli said Oil Depot used money from its iced coffee sales in Wildwood to help sponsor the city’s National Night Out, the public outreach event that strengthens ties between police departments and local communities nationwide.
Until her dog’s death in 2022, Ripoli owned a pit bull named Aladdin that drew national publicity after she rescued him from abuse and he became a beloved therapy dog that traveled around the country to comfort schoolchildren.
Aladdin, nicknamed Laddy, has inspired a new handmade ice cream sandwich, called the “Laddy Bar,” that will be introduced on the beaches in Sea Isle this summer. Proceeds will help support organizations that fight animal cruelty, Ripoli said.
Ripoli also noted that Oil Depot has spoken to Sea Isle officials about helping to sponsor children’s activities in town.
Sea Isle, meanwhile, also has separate contracts with other vendors that will sell acai bowls and iced coffee on the beaches this summer.
For food concessions, Sea Isle also allows hotdog vendors to operate on the entryways to the beaches at eight locations: 32nd Street, 40th Street, 52nd Street, 59th Street, 75th Street, 77th Street, 81st Street and 85th Street. By state law, the licenses to sell hotdogs are given to military veterans.
Beachfront hotdog stands are allowed at eight streets in Sea Isle City.
