Cold Stone — Perhaps Cold Shoulder
As I was having my hair cut on Austin Street in Forest Hills last week, my mouth kept watering. I was anticipating the ice cream I would have afterwards, at Cold Stone Creamery on Austin Street. I got a shock when I found it gone. Furthermore, my family in Oceanside, Long Island tells me there was a Cold Stone there, that came and went inside a month.
It leaves me wondering if Cold Stone just wants to concentrate on their new shop in Atlas Park, or if the shoppers in Forest Hills just gave Cold Stone the cold shoulder in favor of Baskin-Robbins down the street or Uncle Louis G’s on the other side of Austin Street. I guess with the store rents so high in Forest Hills these days, Cold Stone couldn’t sell enough $5.00 cones, singing counter-kids and all.
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Maybe the people in Oceanside realized that just about anywhere else is better than the overpriced crappy ice cream you get at Cold Stone.
Cold Stones (Nearly every one!) are franchises. I’ve looked into opening one before. The problem is the cost of getting a license and construction (very strict guidelines to make them all look the same) makes turning a profit extremely unrealistic. I’m very surprised more locations don’t close down after dealing with their first winter.