Carvel (franchise)

In 1949, Carvel began franchising under the name "Carvel Dari-Freez". By the early 1950s, the company had over 50 stores. New franchisees undertook an 18-day training program at the "Carvel College of Ice Cream Knowledge", and were sent an in-house magazine called "The Shopper's Road". In addition, Carvel provided building plans for franchises, which were initially stand-alone glass-fronted stores.[5]

In 1955, Tom Carvel began to record his own radio commercials.[5] An unsubstantiated anecdote relates that he was driving in New York City, and heard a commercial for a new Carvel's store which did not mention the new store's location. Convinced he could do better, he drove to the radio station and did the next commercial himself. True or not, from 1955 onwards, Carvel recorded nearly all of the chain's advertising, eventually maintaining an in-house production studio at the headquarters offices and becoming something of a regional celebrity.

Carvel's commercials stood out and raised brand awareness primarily through their need for more sophistication. Carvel had a distinctive "gravelly" voice, lacking the "slick" sound of most professional voice-over artists, and all his narration was unrehearsed. His wording was conversational, with commercials frequently ending with the words "Thank You". Television commercials aired primarily in the "tri-state area" of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, began in 1971. Accompanied by the familiar Tom Carvel narration, footage showed the products and employees in the stores; very few graphics or effects were used.

Promotions were part of Carvel's practices from their earliest days. In 1936, they had a "Buy One Get One Free" promotion and various contests in later years. They were an early adopter of corporate sponsorship of various events and tie-in promotions, including a tie-in with the New York Yankees.[5] A long-running and well-known campaign was the "Wednesday is Sundae at Carvel!" discount.

Mamaroneck, New York location

A closed Carvel in an older style

In 1956, Carvel transformed the Hartsdale location into their first "Ice Cream Supermarket" by adding freezer cases containing pre-made cakes and novelty items which customers could choose and purchase.[5] In 1955, Carvel began its "lease back land offer" program, in which a potential investor could buy land, build a franchise, then lease it back to the corporation.

Carvel experimented with various ice cream vehicle options for most of its early history. Vehicle concepts included a scooter (circa 1957) and a custom truck, the "Carvehicle", for which they applied for several patents (circa 1958).

A dispute with franchisees came to a head in 1962. Independent owners attempted to buy products outside the corporate supply chain (in conflict with their contracts), maintaining that the company was deliberately overcharging them. Carvel argued that the franchisees were trying to use inferior ingredients. As well as the immediate impact on corporate cash flow, this hurt the corporate image, reducing the chain to 175 stores. When the corporation tried to enforce this contract, the Federal Trade Commission sued them for restraint of trade. Legal proceedings reached the Supreme Court of the United States in 1964, with the corporation emerging victorious.[5]

In 1967, the corporation bought the Westchester Town House Motel on Tuckahoe Road in Yonkers, New York and renamed it the Carvel Inn, converting it for use as corporate headquarters while still operating it as a hotel, providing them with a conference center for the annual franchisee conventions.[5]

During the late 1970s, Carvel attempted to distinguish itself from other purveyors of soft-serve ice cream by claiming that its ice cream machines did not infuse the product with air, unlike the competition. During the 1970s, when dieting and fitness became more popular, Carvel began offering a low-fat frozen dessert called Thinny-Thin ("Thinny-Thin, for your fatty-fat friends") and a frozen yogurt product called Lo-Yo. From 1973 to 1975, Carvel published a promotional comic book.

In 1983, Saturday Night Live parodied Carvel's ad campaigns during its season 9 episode 7 show, with Joe Piscopo portraying Tom Carvel becoming increasingly troubled by a franchisee's line of X-rated Christmas cakes shaped like breasts, buttocks, testicles, and penises.[9] The same year, the Beastie Boys released their first single, Cooky Puss, which included audio of the rap band making prank phone calls to a Carvel store.

By 1985, there were 865 stores with an income of over $300 million.[10]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Howard Stern used a vocal harmonizer to imitate the "outer space" voice of Cookie Puss that was used in Carvel's TV advertisements. Stern also frequently references longtime co-worker Fred Norris's cluelessness and cheapness in having once given his mother a Cookie Puss cake as a Mother's Day gift.

In 1989, an aging Tom Carvel sold the corporation to Investcorp for $80 million.[5] In 1991, its headquarters was moved to Farmington, Connecticut. On December 11, 2001, Roark Capital Group, a private equity firm, purchased a controlling interest in Carvel Corporation from Investcorp. Investcorp became a minority shareholder.[11]

Carvel co-branded store in San Ysidro, California

For most of its history, Carvel was a regional business, most firmly based on the east coast of the United States. As the business climate has changed, so has some of the brand's focus. As of 2018, there are approximately 418 retail franchises and food service locations,[1] far fewer than at its peak. Carvel branded products are available in approximately 9,500 supermarkets. Celebration Foods has pushed the brand's presence from 30 states in 2004 to 49 in 2008, allowing them to form merchandising partnerships with national brands, such as ice cream cakes featuring Mars' M&M's characters. Focus Brands is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Celebration Foods is based in New Britain, Connecticut.

In August 2007, Abdul Faghihi, the owner of the original Carvel location in Hartsdale, revealed that he had applied for permission to knock down the store and develop a retail strip on the property.[12][13] The Hartsdale store was closed on October 5, 2008. In March 2009, the store was demolished to make way for a Japanese restaurant.

In 2015, Carvel started to open co-branded stores with Auntie Anne's and Cinnabon.[14]

As of 2022 there were 358 Carvel franchises worldwide, with 326 in the US.[15] In 2023 the Carvel website reported 331 Carvel locations in the US.[16]