COLD STONE CREAMERY: And That’s How Pepper Spray Swirl Became a Flavor…
November 21, 2008 by Sean Kelly
Filed under :-) Humor, COLD STONE CREAM.
Will Cold Stone Creamery be adding Pepper Spray Swirl as a new flavor? Or Tazerberry? Will MACE be the newest mix-in?
Reader IllvilleMama jokingly suggested the Pepper Spray Swirl flavor in comments following the story of a fired Cold Stone Creamery employee so loyal that his hands had to be pried from the counter and he had to be pepper-sprayed by police to be removed from the premises.
According to The Daily Journal, the Aug. 9, 2005, incident happened at the Cold Stone Creamery in New Jersey’s Cumberland Mall.
According to court records, it started with Caldwell, an employee, engaging in a dispute with an assistant manager over her instructions. The original police report said foul language in front of customers was involved.
The assistant manager called the ice cream store’s owner, who told her to fire Caldwell. But Caldwell refused to leave, even when police arrived.
Officers used pepper spray to get Caldwell to let go of a counter he was using to resist being taken away.
The municipal court’s punishment amounted to $1,404 in fines and costs.
Caldwell argued on appeal there was not enough evidence to convict him, and he was denied his rights to an attorney, to confront witnesses and due process. He also claimed his right not to incriminate himself was violated.
The opinion from the two-judge appeals panel states the record “fully and firmly supports” the charges against Caldwell, calling his conduct “loud, boisterous and profane.”
“And despite defendant’s other blunderbuss contentions, we find no constitutional deprivation,” it states. “Indeed, we find defendant’s argument that he was deprived of the right to counsel to be particularly frivolous.”
The article states that Rahim Caldwell, 30, has just lost the third appeal of his conviction on three charges. He represented himself in the last, and hopefully final, appeal.
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COLD STONE CREAMERY: Ex-Franchisee’s Scathing Indictment
July 31, 2008 by Sean Kelly
Filed under COLD STONE CREAM., xBuyer Beware
…this “golden child” of the ice cream industry continues to go undetected in their ruthless business practices, their flawed business model and their total disregard for the profitability of the franchisee.
If you are thinking about buying a [Cold Stone Creamery] franchise - DON’T DO IT!!!
J.B. Montgomery, ex-franchisee, from his Cold Stone Creamery complaint at Unhappy Franchisee
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Over at Unhappy Franchisee, a reader named J.B. Montgomery has left a scathing indictment against Cold Stone Creamery and Kahala Corp., alleging that he is an ex-franchisee victimized by franchisor “churning.”
In franchising, the term “churning” refers to the practice of reselling the same failed franchise or territory over and over for profit. It’s about as serious an allegation against a franchisor that can be made.
J.B. Montgomery alleges that he tried to sell his Cold Stone Creamery franchise, but each time he found a qualified buyer Cold Stone Creamery execs would find an excuse not to approve them. When Montgomery was finally forced to close his doors, it took Cold Stone less than two weeks to resell his failed store for a $42,000 profit.
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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.
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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.
photo credit: Yanec License: Creative commons
Cold Stone Franchise Getting Creamed in the Press
June 19, 2008 by Sean Kelly
Filed under COLD STONE CREAM., xBuyer Beware
(Franchise Pick Franchise Blog) Things have gotten chilly for Cold Stone Creamery. It started with Richard Gibson’s The Inside Scoop article in the Wall Street Journal:
Earlier in this decade, Cold Stone Creamery was one of the hottest franchises around. The super-premium ice-cream stores attracted scores of franchisees hungry for a piece of the “Ultimate Ice Cream Experience.”
Now many franchisees are selling their stores, overwhelmed by soaring bills and shrinking profits. Some have lost their homes, broken their retirement nest eggs or filed for bankruptcy…
A number of franchisees… contend the company misled them, giving them promises of profit potential that proved unrealistic or inaccurate revenue numbers from existing stores. And some say that they got little help from the company as their stores went under…
Cold Stone says more than 100 of its stores closed last year. That’s up from 60 in 2006. One list on a Cold Stone Web site recently had 303 stores for sale — more than 20% of the company’s 1,384 as of last December
Blue Mau Mau reported that the WSJ article left the franchise company president cold. President Chris Prasifka fired off a quick, reassuring letter Cold Stone Creamery franchisees. It didn’t seem to have worked.
Meanwhile, on the WSJ site and on franchise expose site Unhappy Franchisee, struggling and failed Cold Stone Creamery franchise owners took the opportunity to both vent and share their perspectives on the failings of the Cold Stone Creamery franchise, the franchise organization, and effects both have had on their lives.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH KAHALA & THE COLD STONE CREAMERY FRANCHISE? WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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