[4] The original Cold Stone Creamery, store #0001, remains in operation near the same intersection at the southwest corner of McClintock and Southern in Tempe.

Cold Stone derives its name from the frozen granite slab that employees use to fold mix-ins into the ice cream.

[14][non-primary source needed] The parent company of Cold Stone Creamery, Kahala Brands, announced in February 2009 that it had reached an agreement with Canadian coffee shop chain Tim Hortons to open 100 co-branded stores in the United States after successfully testing two locations in Rhode Island.

[15] The strategic alliance was intended to pave the way for Tim Hortons to operate in more US locations while allowing Cold Stone Creamery to expand into Canada.

In June 2009, Cold Stone Creamery started testing the Canadian market by opening seven co-branded locations with Tim Hortons in Toronto, Oakville, Mississauga, Hamilton, Pickering, Sudbury, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

[21] Also offered are milkshakes and smoothies, among them the Cold Stone PB&C; its large size was designated by Men's Health Magazine as the most unhealthy drink in the United States for two consecutive years.

These former franchises claim that the parent company opens locations too close to each other, requires expensive remodeling and overstates potential revenues and income.

[27] Other franchises have contended that is not the case and that they are experiencing growth amid financial uncertainties and higher costs associated with fuel and energy prices.

The article stated that a large number of locations, approximately 16–20%, of Cold Stone Creamery franchises have closed or were put up for sale by their owners, many of whom had suffered significant financial losses due to their investment.

A company spokeswoman said that the number of stores for sale was "at par with industry expectations" in light of "the economically challenging times.

Another expose was not aired due to threats of litigation and stores that were closed for years appeared on search engines for some unknown reason.

U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown concurred and called these "deceptive practices" under New York's General Business Law.

[25] In 2015, the Food and Drug Administration alerted the public that products containing "cake batter" ice cream sold at Cold Stone Creamery stores may be associated with an outbreak of [salmonella] infection in several states.

In response, Cold Stone Creamery has agreed to immediately remove all "cake batter" ice cream products from its stores throughout the US.

[31] Ten years earlier, in 2005, the Minnesota Department of Health notified the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that four cases of Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium) with an indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) subtype (CDC PulseNet pattern JPXX01.1173) had been identified.

After a thorough investigation, 25 cases were identified in nine states (Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, Virginia, Ohio, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania); 24 reported eating cake batter ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery.