Cold Stone Creamery sets its sights on being No. 1
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by Yvette Armendariz
 Cold Stone Creamery saw its sales increase 83 percent in 2004 and now executives of the franchise ice-cream business envision becoming No. 1 in U.S. sales by the end of 2009.
System wide sales at 903 stores totaled a record $285 million, up from $156 million reported in 2003, when the company had 541 stores. Average store sales increased 9.5 percent, to nearly $316,000.
Cold Stone now has 915 stores, and the company has sold 1,000 more franchises. About 400 stores are expected to open this year.
"This new vision will chart the course for our future," said Doug Ducey, Cold Stone Creamery's chairman and chief executive, in a statement. The company unveiled its new plans at a recent convention in Las Vegas , attended by more than 1,700 current and prospective franchise holders.
Getting to No. 1 will be a tough climb. Cold Stone now ranks No. 10 in the $20.7 billion ice-cream market.
 The leader is Dairy Queen, according to company market research, followed by Dryer's Grand Ice Cream and Breyers sold in grocery stores. Other big players are McDonald's and ice-cream chain Baskin-Robbins, which has 4,500 retail stores globally.
Cold Stone is not revealing much about its plans to reach No. 1.
Continued franchise expansion, particularly in the Northeast, Florida and Texas , will certainly be a focus. The company also is in talks to sell its ice-cream-cake line with a major retailer, spokesman Kevin Donnellan said.
Sales of ice-cream cakes, introduced last April, were a major contributor to sales and profit increases, he said.
The goal to become No. 1 isn't new for the Scottsdale-based company. Cold Stone's original vision, set in 1999, when it had 74 stores, was to have 1,000 profitable stores by Dec. 31, 2004 . So the company is still short of that goal in terms of total stores, and it won't say how many stores are profitable.
Donnellan said franchisees wouldn't reinvest in the brand if they didn't show a profit.
"Our stores are doing extremely well; over half our franchisees are multi-unit owners."
The 1,000th store is expected to open by the end of March.
Cold Stone operates in 46 states, including Alaska and Hawaii , and in the Caribbean and Guam . It has 38 stores in the Valley and 49 statewide.
Reprinted with permission of the Arizona Republic
For more information about Cold Stone Creamery, visit the company’s Web site at www.coldstonecreamery.com.
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