SCOTTSDALE Ariz. Cold Stone Creamery, the fast-growing mix-in ice cream chain, said it has entered into an agreement to franchise a barbershop concept in addition to its core brand. Details were not disclosed.
The parties said they will remain separate operations, but V's Barbershop would move into Cold Stone's headquarters building here. John Wuycheck, formerly Cold Stone's vice president of franchise development, has reported been transferred to V's staff. V's is owned by Jim Valenzuela, who counted Cold Stone chief executive Doug Ducey among the customers of his first shops.
V's currently consists of five units, including two franchises. Promotional materials describe it as "an authentic barbershop providing traditional barbering services at reasonable prices in an upscale and uniquely masculine environment."
Cold Stone Creamery, a winner of a Nation's Restaurant News Golden Chain Award in 2006, is a largely franchised string of 1,400 ice cream shops where counter personnel blend candies and other ingredients into servings of ice cream to the customer's specifications, sometimes breaking into song as they do.