Baskin-Robbins

**Baskin-Robbins** is an American chain of ice cream and cake specialty shop restaurants. Its parent company is Dunkin' Brands. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California. It claims to be the world's largest chain of ice cream specialty stores, with more than 8,000 locations, including nearly 2,500 shops in the United States and over 5,000 in other countries. Baskin-Robbins sells ice cream in nearly 50 countries.

The company is known for its "31 flavors" slogan, with the idea that a customer could have a different flavor every day of any month. The slogan came from the Carson-Roberts advertising agency (which later merged into Ogilvy & Mather) in 1953. Baskin and Robbins believed that people should be able to sample flavors for free until they found one they wanted to buy.

In 2005, the company's "BR" logo was updated such that it doubles as the number "31" to represent the 31 flavors, with the "31" formed by the parts of the letters "BR" which are rendered in pink color, in contrast to the rest of the logo which is rendered in blue. The company has introduced more than 1,300 flavors since 1945, including the 2019 addition of vegan and non-dairy flavors. The company has been headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts, since 2004 after moving from Randolph, Massachusetts.

## History

Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Jewish brothers-in-law Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins from the merging of their respective ice cream parlors, in Glendale, California.

The Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlors started as separate ventures of Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins, who owned **Burton's Ice Cream Shop** (opened in 1946) and **Snowbird Ice Cream** (opened in 1945), respectively. Snowbird Ice Cream offered 21 flavors, a novel concept at that time. When the separate companies merged in 1948, the number of flavors was expanded to 31 flavors.

By 1948, Burt and Irv had opened six stores. The first franchise covering the sale of ice cream was executed May 20, 1948, for the store at 1130 South Adams in Glendale (Store #1). In 1949, the company's production facility opened in Burbank. Burt and Irv made the decision to sell the stores to the managers. In 1953, Baskin-Robbins hired Carson-Roberts Advertising who recommended adoption of the number 31 as well as the pink (cherry) and brown (chocolate) polka dots and typeface that were reminiscent of the circus. The first store that adopted the new 31 look was 804 North Glendale Ave. in Glendale, California, in March 1953.

Between 1949 and 1962, the corporate firm was Huntington Ice Cream Company. The name succeeded *The Baskin-Robbins Partnership,* and was eventually changed back to **Baskin-Robbins, Inc.** on November 26, 1962. Baskin-Robbins was owned by its founders until it was acquired in 1967 (just prior to Burt Baskin's death) by the United Brands Company (United Fruit). In the 1970s, the chain went international, opening stores in Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Australia. Baskin-Robbins also was the first to introduce ice cream cakes to the public.

During the 1970s, two future American celebrities got their first jobs at Baskin-Robbins. Chris Buck applied icing to ice cream cakes prior to his high school graduation in 1976. Barack Obama spent the summer of 1978 scooping ice cream.

In 1972, the company went public for the first time in its history when United Brands sold 17% in an IPO. A year later, British food company J. Lyons and Co. purchased Baskin-Robbins from United Brands and all public stock. J. Lyons then merged with Allied Breweries, becoming Allied-Lyons in 1978. Allied-Lyons then merged with Pedro Domecq S.A. in 1994, becoming Allied Domecq. Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin' Donuts comprise Dunkin' Brands, Inc. Dunkin' Brands was part of Allied Domecq until its purchase in 2006 by a group of private equity firms - Bain Capital, Thomas Lee, and The Carlyle Group.

In 2008, Baskin-Robbins launched a full menu of frozen desserts called "BRight Choices". These included frozen yogurt, reduced-fat ice cream, no sugar added ice cream, and dairy-free ice cream flavors.

Irv Robbins died at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California, on May 5, 2008, at age 90.

In August 2012, Dunkin' Brands became completely independent of the private equity firms.

While Baskin-Robbins struggled in the early years of the 2000s to retain business with competitors such as frozen yogurt shops, 2013 saw a turnaround in the company's fortunes, with four new U.S. stores opened. An additional five to ten shops were planned to open in 2014, however, Baskin Robbins ultimately surpassed that goal with a grand total of 17 net new openings throughout 2014, and continued growth of the brand with 15 new stores opened in 2015. Many new Baskin- Robbins shops are co-branded with Dunkin' Donuts, including California's first co-branded location of the two in San Diego, which opened in March 2014.

In 2014, Baskin-Robbins also began selling its ice cream for the first time in supermarkets across the U.S.

In July 2017, Baskin-Robbins launched delivery service DoorDash to deliver ice cream in 22 cities across the United States. In the same month gave free samples of Mint Chocolate Chip Polar Pizza at stores across the country from noon to 5 p.m.

Baskin-Robbins began testing a new store format featuring state of the art display cases, original artwork, as well as new product offerings, in late 2018. The "Moments" concept was first showcased in Fresno, California, followed by El Paso, Texas.