Cold Stone Creamery

Cold Stone Creamery is an American-based ice cream parlor chain. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Company is owned and operated by Kahala Brands.[1] The Company's main product is super premium ice cream made with approximately 12–14% butterfat, made on location and customized for patrons at time of order. Cold Stone has also expanded its menu with other ice cream related products, including: ice cream cakes, pies, cookie sandwiches, smoothies, shakes and iced or blended coffee drinks.

Since 2008, the Company has been co-branding its locations with other chains in an attempt to not only increase its presence outside of the United States, but transform its business model from seasonal to year-round. The Company was co-founded in 1988 by Susan and Donald Sutherland, who sought ice cream that was neither hard-packed nor soft-serve. Publicity materials describe it as "smooth and creamy super-premium ice cream." Cold Stone Creamery opened its first store that year in Tempe, Arizona. The original Cold Stone Creamery, store #0001, is still in operation today at the original Tempe location. 

The Company has maintained the same original business model created by founder Steve Herrell of Steve's Ice Cream. Patrons first select what flavor of ice cream they would like and then choose from a plethora of mix-ins available to be folded into their ice cream. Mix-ins can include, but are not limited to: candies, nuts, brownies and/or syrups. Cold Stone's derives its name from the frozen granite slab that the team members use to fold your mix-ins into the ice cream.