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163 Comments
- mynameisjonas, on 06/23/2008, -11/+68in all seriousness, Cold Stone is really overrated. What they really sell you is the indulgence of whatever you want in your ice cream. If you have the actual ice cream, its actually not that good. It is overly sweet and it just doesn't taste that good. I think its like starbucks, it sells more by name than by taste or quality.
- revmhatt, on 06/23/2008, -0/+31I used to manage a Cold Stone and believe me when I say that they are ***** crooked! We had a franchise owner who came in and did personal training with us. It was awesome and our profits went through the roof, when corporate found out how good we were doing they came in and sued our owner to get control of the store so that they could keep a majority of the profits. In 4 months we were dead and it's been dead ever since.
They suck. - inactive, on 06/23/2008, -1/+30Oh, puns. What would the news be like without them? :)
- mydjtl, on 06/23/2008, -0/+25I actually applied for a job there since they were across the street from me and I acually got hired. Never once did they say anything about the song and dance show for pennies. I even went through training and it wasnt until the last day that they revealed the embaressing reality of the job. I quit the day before my first day... no surprised they;re having failures.... who wants to do some cheesy song and dance for a 25 cent tip... theres no minimum tip to give a show...
- airmann90, on 06/23/2008, -0/+21I think Marble Slab Creamery tops Cold Stone any day.
- ricksite, on 06/23/2008, -0/+20Cold Stone's employees always seem scripted to me. One time after I made my purchase, the cashier spouted off the company's guarantee in an almost robotic fashion. A more natural, "Thank you. Please stop by again." would have been better.
- hangtown2004, on 06/23/2008, -1/+21If you tip me 5 bucks I will even do a song and dance
- MindStalker, on 06/23/2008, -2/+21Tip a stripper $5 and you'll get a lot more than that.
- Gizmort, on 06/23/2008, -0/+19I live in a small town and when Cold Stone came to town it was a huge buzz. My wife and 2 kids have been there once in 2 years. They could be closed for all I know. Completely underwhelmed with the experience, quality and they are hideously overprices to boot.
- highwebl, on 06/23/2008, -0/+19As a customer, I also hate seeing employees have to publicly embarrass themselves for the corporate good.
- smacksaw, on 06/23/2008, -1/+20Even punnier if it was "The Inside Scoop on Cold Stone Creamery Franchise Meltdowns"
- LeRenard, on 06/23/2008, -1/+19My wife used to manage a Cold Stone. When we wanted ice cream, we drove about 20 minutes to a local creamery instead of getting the stuff free or discounted at her store. It's odd, but when you aren't paying the super premium price, it doesn't seem super premium anymore. The local place charges 2 or 3 dollars for a medium which is more than we can eat and it tastes much better.. plus they actually have more varieties.
- ender52, on 06/23/2008, -0/+17Also, their ice cream tastes like crap. Mix-ins don't make bad ice cream taste good.
- inactive, on 06/23/2008, -9/+22Baskin Robbins is still better. That brings back some good old memories. When I was a kid I always got excited when when had enough money to go to Baskin Robbins and the ice cakes for my birthday were the best.
It just seems like all the Cold Stones I have been to had rude and lazy employees. If I'm paying $4 a scoop and a tip, I would expect a little courtesy. - LeRenard, on 06/23/2008, -0/+12Depending on the franchise, some don't sing and some sing for any tip no matter how small.
- fefu, on 06/23/2008, -2/+13A Dairy Queen blizzard tastes as good as Cold Stone Creamery and it's CHEAP.
- davdev, on 06/23/2008, -0/+10I agree, I think the actual ice cream Stone Cold uses is actually pretty nasty. I tend to go to the dairy by my house and get their homemade stuff. Much better, though with fewer toppings
- CatsAreGods, on 06/23/2008, -0/+9"Predigest"? You mean they don't spit in your ice cream before they serve it to you?
- gryphon50, on 06/23/2008, -0/+8I think they're outrageously over-priced, about as twice as expensive as my local ice cream place. Why pay the extra money? Especially in this economy, it's wonder that they're going under.
- tromboneamafone, on 06/23/2008, -1/+9Blue Bell ice cream and Braum's ice cream beats anything from the Northeast or anything crammed full of candy bars any day of the week.
- gavin422, on 06/23/2008, -0/+8The Cold Stone in my town was really popular when it opened, but it went downhill quickly. They treated their employees like ***** - chewing them out or firing them for stupid things like grazing the snacks. And now that I finally think about it, the song and dance thing had to be pretty degrading. They had a huge turnover rate - people barely spent more than a few weeks there.
Their ice cream was pretty good, but they were so expensive and treated their employees so badly that I don't have an ounce of sympathy for them. - Fullvinyl, on 06/23/2008, -0/+7Werd...it sounds good when you have a mountain of flavors and toppings in front of you, but I usually end up a bit sick after eating there.
- xxgigavirusxx, on 06/23/2008, -0/+7My parents own a Cold Stone Creamery and its been open for about 3 years now. I look at the figures and the cost of everything, and I fear that my family will end up on the street (worse case scenario). There is so many problems with Cold Stone Creamery. Their promotions that they have are ridiculous, their customer service is complete *****, and the main corporation seems like its more into leech money out of their franchisees then helping their franchisees.
You have to buy a good share of the product from them. They take 10% of your weekly earnings. They charge you around 100,000 every 4 years to keep their Cold Stone Logo. They dont let you have the lease for the building, they own the lease then you pay them rent.
Oh and the thing about Cold Stones too close to each other. Thats cause each Cold Stone has a 2 mile area (Might be 3 miles but still it is ridiculously small). Cold Stone wanted to open another Cold Stone in the same town as the one that my parents own but thank god that no one took it.
If my parents close the store for one day, they have to pay Cold Stone the amount that they would have made as if they were open. They also have to pay Cold Stone fees if they close down.
My dad was extremely excited when they were building his Cold Stone. Thats all he talked about day in and day out before the Cold Stone opened. I am pretty sure he truely believed that he would finally not have to work as much. He would hire a manager to work for him and the business would pay for its self.
Currently he wakes up at 8 am goes to work and comes home around 3 pm. I guess that is better then when he worked from 8 am till 12 pm. That was going on for around a month. With the money he made at the store he could not keep up with paying the workers more then 7 dollars. He currently does not take a pay check thus according the gov't he is unemployed.
I am gonna refuse to read some of the comments to this article because some of them are going to be extremely aggressive towards the Franchise. I was not born in the rich house hold. My parents worked extremely hard for where they are today. Its not our fault (as a franchisee) that Cold Stone is such a ***** company.
I just don't know how to feel about Cold Stone and where my parents will be in 5 years if Cold Stone keeps staying down the same path - dougbdl, on 06/23/2008, -0/+7Franchises are a rip off anyway. I looked at their site and they are saying you need $294,000 liquidity to start a franchise operation. $294,000??? I would get a job at Cold Stone for 3 months, learn their operation inside and out, and replicate it for under $100,000 easy. And I would not have to pay out a huge % of the profits to corporate.
- carve, on 06/23/2008, -0/+7Actually, consumer reports rated ice cream in double blind taste tests. Cold Stone was near the bottom. Baskin Robbins was tops.
So, yeah- it is safe to say most people would agree with him whether they know it or not. Cold Stone is all about sprinkles, gimmicks, and a trendy image. - madamme, on 06/23/2008, -0/+7You had to tip them $5.00!? I worked at one where we had to sing even if someone threw in a penny. That was annoying.
- Elliuotatar, on 06/23/2008, -0/+6A Cold Stone opened near here a year or two ago, and I thought it was the best thing ever for a week or so... until I found out their ice cream is made with corn syrup and artificial flavors, which I avoid like the plague. So I went back to Haagen Dazs, and when I'm in the mood for mix-ins, Ben & Jerry's.
Also, the song and dance thing was cute until I realised it was a franchise rather than a small time operation. - madamme, on 06/23/2008, -0/+6I'm not surprised. I used to work there, and I know from experience that they didn't pay their employees well. I was a shift leader and I made $8.00 an hour. Now I know why: they couldn't afford to pay their employees well enough.
It's too over priced for mediocre ice cream anyhow. - SkippyDoorknob, on 06/23/2008, -0/+6Caffeine addiction.
- Ganja420, on 06/23/2008, -2/+8two words:
Ben and Jerry - sat0shi, on 06/23/2008, -0/+6Cold Stone has lines a mile long here in Japan ALL THE TIME. It's like an hour wait to buy some at some locations.
Sorry, at least Krispy Kreme gives you a free, freshly baked donut while you're waiting in line. - balthisar, on 06/23/2008, -3/+9I'm afraid I have to agree. We went to a Cold Stone Creamery in Old Town, San Diego before New Year's. We'd never been (actually had never heard of the place!). All I wanted was some g-d ice cream, and after managing to eventually communicate that to the dumbfounded employee, left with what was essentially mediocre chocolate ice cream. I'd've rather paid for Haagen-Dazs or similar, in retrospect. There was nothing "premium" about it. If the entire point is to load your ice cream with "goodies," then just get a Blizzard at Dairy Queen (where it doesn't matter that the ice milk is flavorless).
- namelessXsilent, on 06/23/2008, -0/+5Cold Stone is damn expensive here
- saikyan, on 06/23/2008, -0/+5You are absolutely right. I eat a lot of ice cream, and I can't stand Cold Stone. Overpriced and mediocre product, driven by a flashy atmosphere-driven retail outlet. Definately the Starbucks of ice cream.
- smoger, on 06/23/2008, -0/+5what is the world coming to when you can't profit on a $4 ice cream cone?
(also.. unhealthy food just isnt profiting for anyone anymore. krispy kreme came into philly and within 3 years shut down every single store they opened. Dunkin DONUTS is now primarily a coffee shop. when was the last time you even saw them MENTION a donut in their ads?) - brainjuice, on 06/23/2008, -0/+5Went to one for the first time Friday night, I like the ice cream but the song ***** is hokey.
- cjacks9, on 06/23/2008, -0/+5The power of tabbed browsing gone wrong?
- Fallout911, on 06/23/2008, -1/+6I worked there for about 3 months and all I have to say is Ceme de le mouth was a common ingredient that the local rich people seemed to love.
- JQP123, on 06/23/2008, -0/+4Caveat emptor --- buyer beware.
Buying a franchise is a very tricky business. The initial investment can be substantial. In the case of Cold Stone, this can run anywhere between a quarter to a half million dollars according to their web site. Who knew an ice cream store was this expensive?
Not to say that any of the following applies to Cold Stone but with this much money involved, there is significant potential for shady dealings and outright fraud. The folks selling the franchise obviously want to portray the business as favorably as possible in order to sway potential investors. At the same time, there is no real guarantee of success. - WiseWeasel, on 06/23/2008, -0/+4Totally agreed. Waaaay too sweet to be edible. I tried it once, could hardly eat it because it was so sweet, and then never went back again. It won't be missed.
- inactive, on 06/23/2008, -1/+5Baskin Robbins is not very good and filled with artificial colors and flavors, yet they have raised their prices to about the same level as Haagen Dazs, which is far higher quality. A shake at my local BR is about $6, a banana split is $9!
- jbmcb, on 06/23/2008, -0/+4Their ice cream is AWFUL. Almost flavorless, you have to jam fudge and candy into it for it to taste like anything. The only exception was their peppermint ice cream they had a couple of years ago. Of course, it was a limited-time Christmas only thing. I'd go just about anywhere before Cold Stone for ice cream.
- inactive, on 06/23/2008, -2/+6Plain Cold Stone ice cream is definitely not that great. If you want plain chocolate, by all means you should go to Haagen Dazs. Cold Stone is in business for their custom made mixed up concoctions, which most people, myself included, think are pretty good. That's what sets them apart.
- Zanarkand, on 06/23/2008, -0/+4They opened a bunch of them in Shanghai not too long ago. My wife and I are always back and forth to Shanghai and the US. The price is about the same they are charging in Shanghai as in the US while paying the workers much much less. Serves them right...
- DiddyWolf, on 06/23/2008, -1/+5It wouldn't be as punny?
- smacksaw, on 06/23/2008, -0/+4You ought to take some of your disposable income, enroll yourself in a Sylvan Learning Center and work on your spelling and vocabulary skills. Unless you think I'm predigested against you.
- mogebier, on 06/23/2008, -0/+3Well, who wants to pay enough for a couple of scoops of ice cream that you can buy a gallon at the store??
- coolkatz321, on 06/23/2008, -1/+4I've been there once and certainly will not be going back again. I thought the ice cream was way too creamy, and it was like I was eating a stroke with a side of cardiac arrest. I can only imagine how much fat that ***** has in it
- gavin422, on 06/23/2008, -0/+3I think the point of the high sum is to have some margin for error. If you start a franchise with the bare minimum in cash and you lose money the first year, what then?
- tattoojoo, on 06/23/2008, -1/+4cookie puss FTW!
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