Retail Watchers

Yes, the supermarket Baskin-Robbins ice cream is inferior to the ice cream at Baskin-Robbins stores. It makes many people think that ice cream at Baskin-Robbins stores is also terrible.

The supermarket version has tarnished the Baskin-Robbins name.

Alpha8472 wrote: ↑April 14th, 2022, 1:41 pm When people see Baskin-Robbins ice cream for sale at a supermarket, it makes you not want to go into a Baskin-Robbins. You can get the ice cream for cheaper. Who wants to pay for overpriced ice cream. This is probably what hurt the Baskin-Robbins stores the most.

Dairy Queen seems to be more popular than Baskin-Robbins. Perhaps it is the addition of hot food. Or perhaps the portions at Dairy Queen seem less stingy.

Soft-serve and dipper stores have different appeals. DQ usually is cheaper (or can be if you stick to basics). They also tend to turn-up in different kinds of places. I can't recall a small town Baskin-Robins, DQ often is those places. Baskin-Robbins tends to be in somewhat better off suburbs than DQ. Baskin-Robbins competition are the premium ice creams that over took them as well as local operators and the many gelato places.

The real competition for DQ seems to be mom and pop frozen custard places---go to a resort area or a place with lots of dairying and you won't find a DQ because the local operators do so well and usually have a better product. They have no stores in Vermont which is full of great ice cream. Lots of places may include soft-serve as a sideline, like McD's and the mix-in fad was a bit of threat, but the only soft-serve chain based chain I can think of is Culver's from the Midwest which is expanding in their region and into Florida--they also have hot food and they have a devoted following. I've only had the ice cream and it was worth a side trip.

Soft serve to me always meant Carvel.

Seems like there is only ONE left in Cali.

323 nationwide.

I think of Carvel's as more of a hard serve place. When I lived in Connecticut, there was one across the street from a Friendly's on my way to work and both were open late (I worked an over night shift), so I often stopped for one or the other. Neither was as good as the mom & pop that was near where I had lived previously in that area. I still remember Mr. Carvel with his scratchy voice from the tv commercials and having the ice cream cakes at work gatherings.

buckguy wrote: ↑April 18th, 2022, 3:45 pm The real competition for DQ seems to be mom and pop frozen custard places---go to a resort area or a place with lots of dairying and you won't find a DQ because the local operators do so well and usually have a better product. They have no stores in Vermont which is full of great ice cream. Lots of places may include soft-serve as a sideline, like McD's and the mix-in fad was a bit of threat, but the only soft-serve chain based chain I can think of is Culver's from the Midwest which is expanding in their region and into Florida--they also have hot food and they have a devoted following. I've only had the ice cream and it was worth a side trip.

Though, interestingly enough, Vermont has (or at least did as of last October - it doesn't show on the company site, but that might be due to being closed at this time, their Facebook page suggests opening Mid May) one of a handful (under 10) remaining locations of a chain started by one of the original people involved in Dairy Queen - the Tastee-Freez chain!