Cold Stone Creamery facts for kids
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Cold Stone Creamery in Hudson, Ohio.
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| Wholly owned subsidiary | |
| Industry | Ice cream parlor Franchising |
| Founded | 1988 in Tempe, Arizona |
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| Headquarters |
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U.S.
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Number of locations
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929 (US domestic, 2022) |
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Areas served
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Key people
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Éric Lefebvre (CEO - MTY) |
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| Parent | Kahala Brands (through MTY Food Group (2007–present) |
Cold Stone Creamery, Inc. is an American company that sells ice cream. It has many ice cream shops around the world. The company's main office is in Scottsdale, Arizona. Kahala Brands owns and runs Cold Stone Creamery.
Cold Stone is known for its special ice cream. It is made fresh in the store. Customers can choose their ice cream and then add different "mix-ins." These can be candies, nuts, brownies, or syrups. Employees mix these items into the ice cream on a cold granite slab. This is how Cold Stone Creamery got its name! Besides ice cream, they also sell ice cream cakes, pies, smoothies, and shakes.
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History of Cold Stone Creamery
Donald and Susan Sutherland started Cold Stone Creamery in 1988. They wanted to create a new kind of ice cream. It was not hard like regular ice cream, nor was it soft-serve. The very first Cold Stone Creamery store opened in Tempe, Arizona. That first store, number 0001, is still open today. It moved to a new spot nearby in the early 1990s.
The idea of mixing things into ice cream was not new. It was similar to a concept created by Steve Herrell. He founded Steve's Ice Cream. Cold Stone Creamery took this idea and made it their own.
Growing with Franchises
In 1995, Cold Stone Creamery opened its first franchise store. A franchise is like a branch of a business that someone else can open and run. This first franchise was also in Tempe, Arizona. Soon after, another store opened in Camarillo, California.
Cold Stone Creamery quickly became very popular. It grew to be one of the top-selling ice cream brands in the United States. In 2006, Entrepreneur magazine called it one of the fastest-growing franchises.
The company also started opening stores in other countries. In 2008, the first European store opened in Copenhagen, Denmark. In June 2009, Cold Stone Creamery stores opened in Canada. By 2012, they had stores in Singapore and Nigeria. Nigeria was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to have a Cold Stone. In March 2015, a store opened in Ankara, Turkey. In April 2023, the first Cold Stone Creamery opened in the United Kingdom.
Joining with Kahala Brands
In May 2007, Cold Stone Creamery joined with Kahala Corp. They formed a new company called Kahala-Cold Stone. This new company owned eight different brands. Doug Ducey, who was the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, became the CEO of the new company. Later, in 2013, a family called the Serruya family bought most of Kahala. They changed the name to Kahala Brands.
Working with Other Companies
Cold Stone Creamery has worked with other companies. In 2008, they partnered with Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. This allowed some Cold Stone stores to also sell chocolate products.
Cold Stone and Tim Hortons
In 2009, Cold Stone Creamery's parent company, Kahala Brands, made a deal with Tim Hortons. Tim Hortons is a popular coffee shop chain from Canada. The plan was to open 100 stores in the United States that would sell both Cold Stone ice cream and Tim Hortons coffee. This helped Tim Hortons grow in the US. It also helped Cold Stone Creamery expand into Canada.
They tested this idea with two stores in Rhode Island. Then, in August 2009, Tim Hortons moved into three Cold Stone Creamery locations in New York City. This included a big store in Times Square. In Canada, seven co-branded stores opened in cities like Toronto and Hamilton. This partnership ended in 2014.
Cold Stone Products
Cold Stone Creamery offers ice cream in four different sizes. They also make milkshakes and smoothies. One of their large milkshakes, the Cold Stone PB&C, was once called a very high-calorie drink. It had over 2,000 calories.
A video game called Cold Stone Creamery: Scoop It Up was released in 2009. It was a simulation game for the Wii console.
Special Partnerships
Cold Stone has teamed up with other companies to create special products. In 2009, they worked with Kraft Foods and their Jell-O brand. Cold Stone made ice cream flavors based on popular Jell-O pudding flavors. These included Chocolate, Butterscotch, Banana, and Vanilla. These special ice cream flavors do not melt easily because of the pudding.
In 2008, Cold Stone also partnered with Jelly Belly. They created a line of jelly beans that tasted like some of Cold Stone's most popular ice cream flavors.
Safety Information
Cold Stone Creamery takes safety seriously, both for its food and its workers.
Food Safety Concerns
In 2015, a health agency called the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned people about "cake batter" ice cream. This flavor might have been linked to a type of food poisoning called salmonella in several states. Cold Stone Creamery quickly removed all "cake batter" ice cream products from its stores in the US.
A similar issue happened in 2005. Health officials found that some people got sick with salmonella after eating "cake batter" ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. An investigation found 25 cases of illness in nine states. Most of these people had eaten the "cake batter" ice cream.
There have also been discussions about the eggs used by Cold Stone. Some people have raised concerns about eggs from hens kept in small cages. These types of cages were banned in the European Union in 2012 due to health risks and animal welfare concerns.
Workplace Safety Concerns
There have been a few incidents involving employee safety at Cold Stone Creamery stores. In 2023, an employee in Oregon was injured while cleaning an ice cream machine. Their hand was pulled into the machine, causing serious injury. After this, some employees reportedly left their jobs.
A similar accident happened in 2007. An employee also lost a finger in an ice cream machine while using a rag.
Cold Stone Headquarters
Cold Stone Creamery's first main office was in Tempe, Arizona. In 1997, the company moved its headquarters to Scottsdale, Arizona. In July 2005, Cold Stone moved into its current headquarters building. This building has classrooms for training, a special kitchen for creating new products, and a training store.
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