This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
SANDY - Order a sundae at this neighborhood Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop and you now face a mind-numbing array of options.
There are the mini coconut macaroons, the gummy bears, red licorice and crumbled Butterfinger candy bars. You also could also have some Snickers, M&M's or Reese's Pieces sprinkled on top. Or how about topping it all off with a miniature candy cane, cheesecake chunks or pieces of cake?
The choices are all in the name of competition.
More than a dozen new toppings in a newly designed "sundae bar" are part of the franchise company's new brand concept being unveiled at stores in Utah and nationwide. Baskin-Robbins said it expects to convert most of its 2,700 stores to the concept during the next three years and open hundreds of new stores with the new design.
The Sandy store is among the first six of Utah's 16 Baskin-Robbins stores to get the new look in hot pink and blue hues.
The changes are aimed at enabling Baskin-Robbins to better compete with a host of other chains, such as Cold Stone Creamery, which in recent years have been aggressively vying for market share by encouraging customers to make their own ice cream "creations" with a variety of goodies similar to those now offered by Baskin-Robbins.
Fast-growing Cold Stone, which mixes ice cream and toppings on a cold slab, has 16 locations in Utah and two under development in Cedar City and Tooele, a Cold Stone company spokeswoman said.
Although it is undoubtedly gobbling up more market share nationwide, the privately held Cold Stone has only about 1,350 locations - about half of the number operated by Baskin-Robbins in the U.S.
One of the biggest changes at the latter, said Sandy store owner Jan Treseder, is installing a sundae bar and making sundaes right in front of customers.
"It's great because customers aren't watching my back while I'm making their sundae at the back counter anymore," she said. "We have much more interaction with customers because they are right there."
Children are more involved, as well. A foot bar running much of the length of the counter has been installed so that even the smallest child can get a much better view of their ice cream cones, sundaes or other treats being prepared.
Baskin-Robbins' parent company, Dunkin' Brands, is owned by a consortium of global private equity firms - Bain Capital Partners LLC, The Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. All Baskin-Robbins locations are franchises, and franchise owners are required to update their stores to the new design under their franchise agreement.
"As much as I didn't want to spend the money to do this, we needed to do it," Treseder said.
Customers in her store on a recent weekday agreed.
"I've been here before and I like what they have done to this store a lot," said Connie Pantke of Salt Lake City, who was treating her three grandchildren to ice cream. "I like the new sundae bar because it's so fun for the kids -they can pick whatever they want and can watch it being made."
The only thing she said she doesn't like is the added price. Keep adding toppings and ice cream to your sundae, and it's going to cost considerably more than a single scoop.
At the Sandy store, one scoop of ice cream is $1.95. A one-topping sundae runs $2.39, with each additional topping costing 70 cents.
Shelly Senior of Highland, who ordered a sundae on a recent weekday afternoon, said the shop's new colorful look is nice, too.
"It looks pretty cute," she said, eating a sundae as she waited for an order of ice cream to take to a party. "It reminds me of an old-fashioned ice cream parlor."