TCBY facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Chain restaurant/Franchise |
| Founded | 1981 in Little Rock, Arkansas |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Number of locations
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>470 |
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Area served
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Key people
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Joe Lewis CEO |
| Products | Frozen yogurt / Ice cream |
| Parent | Mrs. Fields (2000–present) |
TCBY, which stands for The Country's Best Yogurt, is a popular American chain of stores that sells delicious frozen yogurt. It's one of the biggest places in the U.S. where you can find soft-serve frozen yogurt.
Contents
The Story of TCBY: How It Started
TCBY was started by Frank D. Hickingbotham. He opened the very first store in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1981. It quickly became popular!
Just one year later, TCBY started letting other people open their own TCBY stores. This is called franchising. By 1984, there were already more than 100 TCBY stores.
How TCBY Got Its Name
Before 1984, the company was called "This Can't Be Yogurt." But another yogurt company had a similar name. Because of this, TCBY had to pick a new name. They decided to use their initials to create "The Country's Best Yogurt."
In 1995, TCBY started working with other big fast-food chains. You could find TCBY yogurt inside places like Taco Bell, McDonald's, Subway, and Burger King.
Moving Headquarters
In 1991, TCBY moved its main office into the tallest building in Arkansas. This building was in downtown Little Rock and was even renamed The TCBY Tower. TCBY stayed there until the year 2000.
In 2000, a company called Mrs. Fields bought TCBY. The two companies then moved their main offices together to Broomfield, Colorado, in 2012.
TCBY stores were also open in countries like Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua for some years. However, those locations eventually closed. In 2001, there were 1,777 TCBY stores across the U.S. By 2011, that number had changed to 405 stores.
What TCBY Offers: Flavors and Treats
TCBY offers many different flavors of frozen yogurt. You can usually find both hard-scooped and soft-serve yogurt. Newer TCBY stores often focus only on soft-serve yogurt.
These newer stores let you serve yourself! You pick your favorite yogurt flavors and add your own toppings, like fruit or candy. Then, you pay based on how much your cup weighs. Some popular soft-serve flavors include Golden Vanilla, Chocolate, and White Chocolate Mousse. They also have special flavors that change often.
Besides yogurt, TCBY also sells drinks. These include yummy Berriyo yogurt smoothies and Frappe Chillers.
New Ideas and Healthy Options
In 2010, TCBY tried out some new ideas. They tested breakfast and lunch bowls, parfaits, and smoothies. These were made with "fresh" yogurt, not frozen, and were called Yovana-Simply Yogurt.
Also in 2010, a special new store opened in Salt Lake City. This store was the first to let customers serve themselves. This way, you could mix and match any yogurt flavors and toppings you wanted.
In 2011, TCBY made its yogurt even better with something called Super Fro-Yo. This yogurt has more good nutrients. They also made sure their yogurt had less than 2 percent fat, so it could be called low fat. In 2012, TCBY was the first frozen yogurt chain to offer Greek frozen yogurt.
Special Days and Giveaways
Every year, TCBY gives a free frozen yogurt to mothers on Mother's Day. They also give a free frozen yogurt to fathers on Father's Day.
In 2009, TCBY held a fun contest called "This Could Be Yours: The Great TCBY Store Giveaway." One lucky person could win their very own TCBY store! To enter, people made videos explaining why they should win and why their town was perfect for a TCBY.
The winners were Jared and Sarah Greer from Fayetteville, Arkansas. They opened their new self-serve TCBY store in Rogers, Arkansas, in April 2011.
See also
- List of frozen yogurt companies
- List of frozen dessert brands
