Cold Stone Creamery

With every creation and every customer, the Cold Stone Creamery community is committed to delivering more than ice cream to the legions of ice cream lovers worldwide. They will deliver their passion for quality, their passion for variety, and their passion for choice. That passion is delivering the ultimate indulgence in ice cream. Doug Ducey becomes a partner and president of the company; the company's first franchise store opens in Tucson, Arizona. Cold Stone Creamery's headquarters double in size and move to Scottsdale, Arizona. Cold Stone Creamery operates on an independently owned franchise system of ice creameries headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. There are more than 900 Cold Stone Creamery stores in 47 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, and in the Caribbean and Guam. At each location, Cold Stone Creamery "crew" members handcraft ice cream fresh daily. Customers choose their "creations" from an assortment of flavors and mix-ins, which the crew blends to order on a granite stone chilled to 16 degrees Fahrenheit. Serving sizes range from the size of a tennis ball to the size of a softball and are called "Like It," "Love It," and "Gotta Have It." Cold Stone Creamery sold not just ice cream, but a concept: Customers designed their own personalized "dessert creations," choosing from basic ice cream, yogurt, and sorbet flavors and adding in fruit, candy, nuts, syrups, and other ingredients. Cold Stone Creamery staff, called crew members, mixed these ingredients together using spatula-like utensils on a frozen granite slab. The idea of add-ins was not new, having been first introduced in 1973 by Steve Herrell of Steve's Ice Cream of Somerville, Massachusetts, but Cold Stone Creamery took the add-in concept one-step further. The company aimed to deliver the "Ultimate Ice Cream Experience" by selling entertainment along with its super-premium ice cream. According to the company's web site, a visit to a Cold Stone Creamery store should be "a community event" as in the "good old days" of ice cream parlors. Aided by the aroma of fresh baked waffle cones and brownies and the warm reception of crew members, it would "transform the simple pleasure of eating ice cream into a memorable, one-of-a-kind experience ... where people could create their own happiness." Cold Stone Creamery was a hit, and, in 1990, the Sutherlands opened a second store in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Third and fourth stores followed during the next five years, during which time the company added partners as well: Ken Burk as chief executive officer in charge of establishing the foundation of the fast-growing company in 1994, and Doug Ducey as president responsible for business development and direction in 1995. Ducey was an Ohio native and a graduate of Arizona State University with a history in executive sales; he had held marketing positions with Procter & Gamble and Anheuser Busch before arriving at Cold Stone Creamery. Cold Stone Creamery also began in-store promotions to raise interest in its products. Adopting the motto "Create Your Own Happiness," and claiming the title of "the nation's fastest-growing franchiser of gourmet ice cream and frozen yogurt stores," the company held a contest in 2000 in which customers submitted their own recipes for ice cream creations to compete for the chance to become an honorary partner of the company. One participant from each of the company's stores won an ice cream party for 25, $1,100 per month, and free ice cream every day for a year for family and friends. Cold Stone Creamery also began to actively seek promotional partners in the sports and food industries. In January 2001, it became the official ice cream of the Phoenix Open golf tournament and joined with other businesses throughout the Phoenix community to contribute support to local charities. In February, it joined with the Colorado Avalanche hockey team to raise money for a community fund by sponsoring a contest in which participants competed to