<P> Cold Stone Creamery is an American ice cream parlor chain . Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the company is owned and operated by Kahala Brands . The company's main product is 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 . </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> The Company was co-founded in 1988 by Donald and Susan 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 in operation today near the same intersection (southwest corner of McClintock & Southern) as the original Tempe location . The store moved from the original location to the current location in the early 1990s . </P> <P> The Company has maintained the same original business model created by Steve Herrell who founded 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 . The concept is similar to the Marble Slab Creamery, the inventor of mixing ice cream on a frozen stone slab (founded in 1983), which was also inspired by Steve Herrell and was operating in the Phoenix metro area in the late 1980s . </P>

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