Sweet Success Italian ice never looked so hot.

If you're a Philadelphia firefighter who wants a secondaryincome, how do you come up with a solid idea? Bob Tumolo, 49,president of Rita's Water Ice Franchise Corp., took ashower.

It was while in the shower at the gym that Tumolo overheard aconversation between two men discussing business, money andfat-free, cholesterol-free desserts called water ice. That meetingresulted in the opening of the first Rita's Water Ice in May1984, in a suburb of Philadelphia. The first store did so well thatit grew to four and began franchising in 1989. Now Tumulo has thenation's largest Italian ice chain. Not bad for a company withstart-up costs of only $20,000. With current sales figures of $38million and 2,500 employees in 209 stores, Rita's Water IceFranchise Corp. is booming.

With Rita's operating in nine states, Tumolo takes a carefulapproach to growth. "In 1996, we were gearing up for aprogressive growth strategy and it never materialized. So whatwe've done now is taken a step back," he says. "Ourgoal is to be a strong regional company rather than a national one,to be strong from DC to Boston."