Cold Stone Creamery® is the ultimate ice cream franchise, beloved by millions of customers in America and around the world. Founded in 1988, Cold Stone Creamery has grown to many locations in the United States and in multiple markets. Now, after 34 years in business, Cold Stone Creamery continues to thrive by offering the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience®: a super-premium, artisanal ice cream that is made fresh in our stores, an endless array of mix-in combinations that allows customers to dream up their own Creations™, and exceptional customer service that is full of cheer, song and smiles.
Cold Stone Creamery is rolling out a development initiative with the aim of growing the brand by hundreds of locations in the coming years. We’re actively seeking savvy entrepreneurs with a passion for ice cream and the customer in-store experience to bring the Cold Stone Creamery franchise to new communities at home and abroad.
“There has never been a better time to invest in a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream business franchise,” says John Wuycheck, SVP of Franchise Development with Cold Stone Creamery. “Cold Stone Creamery is a brand that will continue to do incredibly well. Not only do we enjoy household name recognition in America and globally, but we believe our product is far superior to what is available on the market. The creamery part of Cold Stone Creamery is real: we make our ice cream fresh in-house, which gives our ice cream an artisanal quality, and a taste that becomes a craving that creates customer loyalty. As a franchisor, we have designed Cold Stone Creamery to be an easy-to-run, easy-to-scale business. We’ve been growing for years, and we’re not slowing down anytime soon.”
It is very difficult to start. There is a significant amount of menu items to remember, including the proper portioning and execution of items. As well as proper cleaning practices and cash tendering. But, once you get accustomed to the routine, it gets easier. The work becomes redundant. The managers are good and they are understanding. Great with working around school schedule too. The best part is the people you work with and some customers who are regulars. Ultimately, it is a fun place to work.
Prosfree ice cream, awesome friends made with employees, fun, flexible schedule
Consa lot of things to remember, no benefits or paid time off, redundant work
The managers at my location were completely unprofessional and rude. They would talk smack about customers and employees behind their backs all the time and then claimed to have an "accepting" and "collaborative" environment. The people I met there were some of the rudest people I have ever seen in my life. To continue, there was little to no training. The managers, assistant managers, and store leaders treated trainees like a burden. I can not emphasis how horrible the management was at my location. They were wildly and comically underqualified and did not possess the soft skills or personality required for the job. They also established a habit of blaming lower level associates for THEIR mistakes. In addition, they would overwork their employees and even made them work on days they specifically said they could not. Unfortunately, experienced coworkers and store leaders WERE NOT any better. They made it a point to show that they did not care about the new hires and even made fun of their level of training. They are extremely cliquey and mean. I have witnessed them making fun of new hires on multiple separate occasions as well as CONSTANTLY complaining about being at their job. I have also seen them deliberately trip/bump into fellow coworkers as well as refuse to help them with certain tasks. Experienced coworkers literally made fun of and laughed at newer hires RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM and even in front of customers. It was an extremely infuriating experience and the amount o...moreProsfree ice cream (sometimes)
Conslow pay, rude management, poor training, micromanaging, overworking, poor communication, no breaks if you are over 18
2.0
Crew Member | United States | May 30, 2015
Working at Cold Stone
Cold Stone employees are usually teenagers or young adults. Working here gave me all the experience that I need if I ever want to get another job in the food serving/barista-type jobs. I think that a lot of people, outside of the store, do not realize how much work really goes into being a crew member here. It can be hard job and it is physically demanding. I wanted to begin with talking about the things that I enjoyed about working here, but in the midst of writing about it I started to realize all of the negatives, so let's just start with the negatives. I hated co-workers who texted all the time and sat around doing nothing -- there is always something to do even if its scrapping chocolate shavings off of the floor. The initial training process is bad. My first day working was on a Saturday and I was thrown out to work in the front because my co-workers assumed that I knew how to do things. After that day I went home crying because that was my first job ever, and I felt like I couldn't do it, but I stuck with it and I got better by teaching myself and asking the right questions. Everyone has their own way of doing things.What I also hated was telling customers that we were out of something. It SUCKS. We would be missing one thing or the other and we would have to explain to customers about alternatives even though they were upset. It sucked when I had to run to the back freezer (because no one had back-ups prepared) rush and get everything ready while there were customers ...more
ProsFree ice cream
2.0
Shift Leader | Kansas City, MO | Aug 2, 2014
Poor management that doesn't care about employees
I have worked at Cold stone for several summers now. When I first got hired, our location was under Corporate. We had some issues still, but they treated us nice and we always had what we needed. This Summer, we were switched to a franchise. I had heard horrible things about becoming a franchise from previous co-workers, and only heard bad things. It's safe to say that I can agree with them. In my own opinion, the owners are jipping the customers. We have switched from buying a good portion of our food product from Sysco and are now purchasing from Wal-mart. We run out of things quite frequently and it's really frustrating. we now get "fun size" candy bars and are requested to put only one to two in every size (depending on the size of the candy). The worst one is that we can only put one Reese's in each size. A "Got-to-have-it" size should not have one Reese's in it. It needs at least 2 in order to satisfy the cutomer. Then, on top of that, if the customer wants another Reese's to go with their lonely one, they have to pay almost a dollar for another one. This typically does not make for a happy customer. We also have it set where you now get a "free" mix-in with your ice cream. This isn't really true. You're technically paying for the mix-in, so if you don't want anything in your ice cream, then you're getting way over-charged. Working at Cold Stone is no easy task. We have huge lines all night, and not enough man power to handle it. It took several us workers ...more
Prosfree like it create when you work, flexible schedule
Consfew hours a week, no breaks, really long lines, little to no direction
3.0
Team Assistant | Sarasota, FL | Nov 25, 2016
It's a super temperary job, poor management, but good 1st job.. Salty review.
I started at a different location then where I am now, my starting pay was about $9 an hour without tips taken out. I go to another location because my store was closed down .. Anyway, to get back on topic, At this location, we make about $6.50 an hour, the prices are a dollar more than all of our items at the other location, and taxes are taken out of all credit card tips. So if it says you got about $80 in tips through credit card, you're getting half of that. The other store we took out all of the money from the register from CC tips. So I guess it depends on the location of which you work. Always check like Google reviews and yelp reviews because customers will always tell you what's up. And places like this kill me because it's usually mostly women that they hire for customer service type jobs. Both locations had major problems with laziness and coworkers at each others throats, jealousy, back stabbing.. I'm mostly mad at myself for letting my friend talk me into working at a cold stone again, and yes, I know, every workplace has it's problems, but this is just silly.. Who hires maids to clean the store instead of just having your employees do it? It's our job. Not to mention all the product that is getting stolen daily from one of our more dishonest employees.There's no proper training regiment for new employees. I had to show an employee, who's been here for about a year mind you, the cold stone songs, how to make ice cream, how to store product and when thin...more
ProsGood first job, very easy, mad tips, some breaks?
ConsBad management, often poor work ethic coworkers, understaffed
4.0
Crew Member | Olathe, KS | Feb 11, 2019
Fun job, unfair treatment
I really enjoyed working at Cold Stone. My coworkers were fun and compared to the job I'd had before, the facility was nicer (more clean), the managers were nicer, and I was getting more hours and better pay ($6.50/hr compared to $3). At the time I thought that I was making good money but when I think back I was really used up there. They got away with only giving me $6.50/hr because we also get tips--shared tips, among the three workers per shift. I was 17 with a restricted license, which meant legally I was supposed to be home by 10 pm. I was at work until about 11 or 12 pm, six nights a week. Still, I was happy to stay because it was hard, stimulating work and I genuinely enjoyed being around my coworkers (who were mostly "crew shift leads"). So, I'd had experience handling money before this job, but they were very particular at CSC so I had to go through some training for the register--which they didn't introduce until a few months into the job...and they never granted me permission to actually work the register during a rush. I don't know why. I know I only made a couple errors during training but I am good at math and a welcoming person and all I needed was a little practice, which they didn't allow. Okay...so during a huge rush one day a shift lead asked me to go to the register and I told them I would be happy to, except that our GM told me not to. (This made me feel so sad and helpless but we knew that the GM regularly watches the store and would be angry if we ...more
2.0
Food Service Worker | Clinton, CT | Apr 2, 2013
worthless job
I started out as a food server and made my way up to shift manager which included being in charge of the daily intake, the till, opening and closing the store, restocking food, making food products, cleaning and making sure my fellow employees worked thoroughly as well. At first I thought this was going to be a good job because of the fact that I loved the franchise and the product as well but I was sorely disappointed. The store was in shambles, wires hung down from the ceiling, dirty water dripped into the ice cream product and was ignored (my manager just told me to scrape off the frozen area ignoring all health code violations). There was mold collecting in the vents where we kept the ice cream products to serve, the supervisor just shrugged this off when I addressed him with it. One of the daily requirements was to empty the outside trash bin that was right in front of the store, but with no health insurance or proper cleaning equipment a worker was liable to become infected with the random trash that was thrown away. I, the shift manager always took care of this job because I had more responsibility than my co-workers but I believe that if the employers do not want to give out health insurance then they should provide the proper safety measures. However, this was not the only time that lack of care was seen at this store, a customer asked for some extra ice to keep his purchases cold on his trip home. When I provided the ice (I didn't give the customer the whole gallon ...more
Prosone free ice cream per shift
Conshealth violations, unequal treatment of men and women, bad management, unfair treatment of workers, etc.
3.0
Shift Leader | Orlando, FL | Mar 18, 2019
Under-managed, but quality intensive workplace
A morning shift was "luck of the draw" on any given day. There was only one store opener on weekdays and on weekends another employee would arrive 3 hours into the shift. I'd come in an hour before the store opened to start the daily pre-opening routine. I'd call the manager before I opened the store and update on how the closing crew had left the store. Once the store was open, I was responsible for making a batch of waffle cones, greeting, taking and preparing orders, and cashiering. On slow days the responsibilities were manageable, but on regular days the responsibilities were difficult to complete while maintaining quality service. The most difficult part was completing your mandatory 30 minute break while being the only employee in the store and hoping no customers came in during that time. If customers came in I needed to remember how much time i had left on my break and fit my break during periods in which there were no customers arriving to order. The other shifts were more bearable since the employees were able to manage the work in between 2-3 people. The most enjoyable part of the job was the customer service that I was able to provide, along with gaining new useful experience as a person and employee. Management would usually arrive and leave before the morning shift employee arrived. This meant that there was little communication with employees and would result in management relaying information through employees. I was one of the few employees that was dire...more
ProsRare free lunch, experience/responsibility building, quality service experience
ConsUnderstaffed, Under-managed, little pay.
3.0
Crew Member | Moreno Valley, CA | Jan 16, 2016
Busy place but can also be fun
A typical day at Cold Stone Creamery was me going in to work usually for about 4-6 hours maybe at times less. I would be assigned to a task depending on how busy the creamery was or the time I would go into work. If I had a morning shift I usually res-stocked all the ice creams as well as the ingredients used on the ice cream. I then would prepare waffle cones which were pretty fun to make. I also attended a person with customer service so I prepared their order and charged them. At noon it was mostly cleaning the floor, windows, the ice cream display, dishes etc. If I had an afternoon to closing shift that was the busiest especially during weekends. It was non-stop walking around preparing orders charging and more customer service, at some points it would get super busy that more team crew members would get called in to help and their would be five crew members at the same time taking orders, it was busy,busy busy. I had an excellent group of shift leaders they were very understanding and very helpful, especially if you were new and learning they would correct you in a polite manner and encourage you to do better next time. What I learned working for Cold Stone was that you always have to have a positive mind set because some customers will come in expecting you to be perfect and give them all they need even when the store was lacking products. Some customers demanded a lot and would get angry or upset fast so we as employees had to keep a positive outlook on all thi...more
ProsIce cream perks, tips for singing
Consdifferent hours, call ins, or hours being cut.
2.0
Shift Leader | Vancouver, WA | Mar 1, 2021
Recognition? Not likely.
Each day is the same, make ice cream, waffles, dips, and cakes, refill mix-ins, ice, whatever happened to be out from the previous night. Do all of this with potentially no traffic for the day, or the floodgates have been opened, and you have no time for those duties until you have a second person show up for the shift. Cooperation with the other people doing this every day makes the job bearable, manager excluded. Each manager I'd worked under was less than competent, and didn't help much in the day to day tasks. I myself was skipped over a management position in lieu of a former employee for favoritism, not tangible skills or work ethic. Advancement is pointless to pursue as you will not be recognized unless the particular franchise owner likes you. I did enjoy learning all of the various tasks that allowed me to better organize the store and serve customers, even the belligerents, I actually had the proper training to deal with any situation. This killed my motivation when I was entirely passed up for promotion, due to the owner's obvious favoritism plus misandry. Coworkers can wildly vary, but for the most part, the TEAM focused on helping each other and ensuring work was done quickly and correctly, with little or no help from management. Customers are generally filled with horrible entitlement, with little to no regards to how pricing works or how policy is handled, expecting us to roll out the red carpet for them because they are apparently the single person t...more
Pros"Free" ice cream, flexible breaks
ConsEmployee retention, lack of advancement, health hazards
4.0
Shift Leader | American Fork, UT | May 28, 2022
Good first job for teens
I worked at Cold Stone for about a year and it was a good first job. You start at minimum wage for the first week or two then they bump you up to $9/hr. You do have multiple ways to earn a raise up to $15/hr. Tips are also great depending on the night, but you only receive tips if you close. Scheduling and getting time off is easy for the most part. If you want both weekend days off a parent must call your manager to approve time off. In my opinion the only downside is scheduling for holidays (especially V-day) Oh and I recommend working Christmas Eve instead of New Years. You HAVE to do one or the other and for Christmas Eve it’s so chill. You close at 5 ish, close the store, then go home. New Years you still have regular hours so you close at 10 or 11 and then have to close the store so good chance you’ll miss the New Year like the people this past year. Also other downside is co-worker drama, but that’ll be almost anywhere. But you also make a lot of really great friends there too! For benefits you get 50% off food except anything from Rocky Mountain that is over $3 I think or something like that. You get a t shirt, apron, and visor for your uniform which you must always wear. You can’t wear leggings or shorts. Hair must always be tied up in a ponytail/bun. Shift leader is one of the raises for $1. When you are a shift leader you are in charge of the store from 4:30-10 or 11 (depending what day it is) and then you must close along with 3 other people. You are responsi