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 List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county located in the United States, U.S. Colorado, state of Colorado. It has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sect ...

History

Mrs. Fields Cookies was founded by

Debbi Fields Debbi Fields (; born September 18, 1956) is the founder and spokesperson of Mrs. Fields Bakeries. Initially one of the original ball girls in major league baseball, she used her pay to refine her cookie recipes. She has written several cookbooks ...

in the late 1970s. She and her husband Randy opened their first of many stores in 1977 in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, 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. Most of the city is within Summit County, Utah, Summit County, with some portions extending into Wasatch County, Utah, Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is sou ...

. In the early 1990s, the company was sold to an investment firm. During the 1980s and 90s, the company acquired several other brands, including The Famous Chocolate Chip Cookie Company, The Original Cookie Company,

Great American Cookies Great American Cookie Co., doing business as Great American Cookies, is an American chain of independently owned and operated franchised stores that specialize in gourmet cookies, especially cookie cakes. It has over 290 stores in the U.S., pa ...

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 locatio ...

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

. All Hot Sam’s stores were converted to Pretzel Time and Great American Cookies, Pretzel Time and Pretzelmaker were later sold to Nexcen Franchise Management leaving only Mrs. Fields’ Cookies and TCBY as the portfolios brands. 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 Metropolitan Area, Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, fourth-most populous city in Arizona ...

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 List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

area in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. 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 is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...

and

Waldorf-Astoria The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Street (Manhattan), 50th Streets, is a 47-story ...

for

red velvet cake Red velvet cake is a red-colored layer cake with cream cheese or ermine icing. The origin of the cake is unknown, although it is popular in the Southern United States and has been served as a dessert at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria hotel s ...

. 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 A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

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 Fast-food franchises Bakeries of California Private equity portfolio companies 1977 establishments in California Restaurants established in 1977