Mrs. Fields' Original Cookies Inc. is an American franchisor in the snack food industry, with Mrs. Fields and

TCBY TCBY (The Country's Best Yogurt) is an American chain of frozen yogurt stores. It is one of the largest U.S. retailers of soft-serve frozen yogurt. History In 1981, Frank D. Hickingbotham opened the first TCBY in Little Rock, Arkansas. TCBY ...

as its core brands. Through its franchisees' retail stores, it is one of the largest retailers of freshly baked, on-premises specialty cookies and brownies in the United States and the largest retailer of soft-serve

frozen yogurt Frozen yogurt (also known as frogurt or by the tradename Froyo; ) is a frozen dessert made with yogurt and sometimes other dairy and non-dairy products. Frozen yogurt is a frozen product containing the same basic ingredients as ice cream, but c ...

in the country. In addition, it operates a gifts and branded retail business, entering into many licensing arrangements. Its franchise systems include over 300 franchised and licensed locations throughout the United States and in 22 other countries. It also offers retail grocery products and a gifting catalog under the name of Mrs. Fields Gifts. It is headquartered in

Broomfield, Colorado Broomfield is a consolidated city and county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. Broomfield has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The Broomfield populati ...

History

Mrs. Fields Cookies was founded by Debbi Fields in the late 1970s. She and her husband Randy opened their first of many stores in 1977 in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

, selling homemade-style cookies which quickly grew in popularity. Stalls were located in many U.S. airports and shopping malls. In 1982, they moved their headquarters to

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake Cit ...

. In the early 1990s, the company was sold to an investment firm. During the 1990s, the company acquired several other brands including Original Cookie Company,

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Pretzel Time Pretzelmaker is a chain of independently owned and operated franchised stores that specialize in hand-rolled pretzels, smoothies and cold beverages. It is a franchise brand in the portfolio of Global Franchise Group. It has more than 280 locati ...

Pretzelmaker Pretzelmaker is a chain of independently owned and operated franchised stores that specialize in hand-rolled pretzels, smoothies and cold beverages. It is a franchise brand in the portfolio of Global Franchise Group. It has more than 280 locatio ...

, Hot Sam Pretzel Bakery, and

. In 2007, Mrs. Fields celebrated its 30th anniversary with a national search for a new cookie.

Chandler, Arizona Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the ...

resident Carrie Lawrence's recipe for "Oatmeal Peanut Butter Scotchies" was chosen over 700 other recipe entries as Mrs. Fields' 30th Anniversary Cookie in August 2007. In May 2012, Mrs. Fields announced it was moving its headquarters to the

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

area in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. According to then CEO Tim Casey, the move was because "Many casual/quick service franchise companies were launched from and are based in Denver, making it an ideal environment for idea sharing." The company acquired long-standing licensee Maxfield Candy and high quality nut, dried fruit, and popcorn brand Nutty Guys in Salt Lake City, Utah on December 24, 2014.

The chain letter recipe

In the mid-1980s a recipe circulated through the mail that claimed to contain the secret recipe for Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies along with a story that it was purchased from one of the cookie stores for $250. However it was fake and the story that accompanied it was adapted from an urban legend attached to recipes for cookies from

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...

and

Waldorf-Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schult ...

for

red velvet cake Red velvet cake is traditionally a red, red-brown, crimson, or scarlet-colored layer cake, layered with ermine icing. Traditional recipes do not use food coloring, with the red color due to non- Dutched, anthocyanin-rich cocoa. Common ingred ...

. In response to the chain letter, a sign attributed to Debbi was posted in Mrs. Fields stores:

Financial history

In 2007, Nexcen Brands, Inc. purchased the

and

brands from Mrs. Fields Famous Brands.

was then sold to Nexcen in February 2008. Mrs. Fields experienced layoffs due to restructuring caused by sale of these brands. In 2008, Mrs. Fields attempted to restructure their debt to bondholders before filing for Chapter 11 protection. Mrs. Fields avoided another bankruptcy in 2011 by agreeing to cede control of the company to its creditors, Z Capital Partners and Carlyle. Z Capital Partners became the sole owner of Mrs. Fields in 2013. Mrs. Fields promoted Neil Courtney from COO to CEO.

References

External links

Mrs. Fields Cookies website

TCBY website
{{Fast-food chains of the United States Food and drink companies of the United States Food and drink companies established in 1977 Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008 Companies based in Broomfield, Colorado Bakeries of California Private equity portfolio companies 1977 establishments in California Restaurants established in 1977