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Mrs. Fields names new CEO, talks growth

SALT LAKE CITY Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Casey joins the company, which exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2008, as it restarts growth at its Mrs. Fields and TCBY brands following improved marketing at the namesake cookie chain and reformulated products and a new self-service prototype at the yogurt concept. Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

He succeeds former company co-chief executive John Lauck, who left in early March, and Lauck’s fellow co-chief executive Michael Ward, who is now president of international franchising operations for Mrs. Fields and TCBY and the company’s chief legal counsel.Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

“Tim’s intense focus on the guest experience, brand relevance, operational excellence and people has attributed to his successful track record of driving profitable sales and growth in the industry,” said Sid Feltenstein, chairman of Mrs. Fields Famous Brands.Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Famous Brands is the division of Mrs. Fields Original Cookies that franchises the Mrs. Fields Cookies chain with 268 domestic and 101 international locations, and the TCBY system with 441 domestic and 181 international stores. The company also licenses about 62 TCBY and 25 Mrs. Fields operations and has online and phone gift-sales operations, as well as a packaged goods division that supplies grocery and convenience stores.Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Casey said that while at Los Angeles-based International Coffee & Tea LLC, parent of the more than 740-unit Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf chain, which he left in January, he had multiple roles “leading global branding, marketing, research and development, product development and operations.” When he left Starbucks after nine years in 2002, he was vice president of operations, he said, and later served as president of the Bakers Square family-dining chain, which was owned at the time by Vicorp Restaurants Inc.Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

The Mrs. Fields organization, as recently as January 2005, had 2,688 franchised retail locations worldwide, but that number was cut in half by June 2008, right before its bankruptcy, through closures and the selloff of some secondary snack brands, including the Pretzelmaker and Great American Cookie Company concepts.Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Despite the challenges of the recent past, Casey said in an interview that he is excited to join the company because of “some of the branding work already done at TCBY” and the opportunities for growth at Mrs. Fields.Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

“I believes there are tremendous synergies [to be exploited] on the Mrs. Fields side, with the retail [franchised store] operations alongside packaged goods and gifting,” he said.Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

“Every consumer brand is fighting for mindshare, relevance and market share today. Fortunately, we have two very recognizable brands,” Casey said in a statement Wednesday. “My role, with our dedicated and passionate franchisees and talented management team, is to lead the next growth stage, by bringing to market the full extent of our competitive advantages in product quality, R&D innovation, brand heritage, operational excellence and the guest experience.”Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Feltenstein credited Mrs. Fields’ new chief executive “with always thinking about what will be important to the consumer tomorrow.”Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Even before Casey’s arrival, TCBY, long the leader in unit count and a pioneer in the frozen yogurt segment, said it was making a sizeable investment to reformulate its frozen yogurt to be more healthful than the goods sold at such popular newcomer chains as Pinkberry and Red Mango. Former co-chief executive Ward recently said the chain believes it won last year’s research-and-development bet and has begun marketing that claimed “more healthful” advantage to consumers. Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

“We have anywhere from two to five times the healthy aspects or our competitors, but we didn’t sacrifice the taste,” Ward said of TCBY’s reformulated frozen yogurt in terms of “active cultures, vitamins and calcium,” among other metrics, and its sweeter flavor profiles compared with some of its “tart” yogurt competitors.Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

New CEO Casey said the reformulated frozen yogurt will be a major asset as TCBY expands its international franchising activity. Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

“Internationally, frozen yogurt is becoming very popular,” Casey noted. “In Asia, there is truly a lot of pent up demand for this kind of healthier [snack] option.”Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Along with the reformulation of its key product, TCBY also is adding its first company-operated stores in many years in the form of two new units to open this summer in Salt Lake City, Ward said. In a nod to franchisee requests and a trend within the frozen yogurt segment, he said the new locations will employ customer self-service and pay-by-the-ounce formats, versus the traditional counter-service dip-shop format typically found in TCBY stores.Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Famous Brands chairman Feltenstein said that on top of the completed and ongoing changes at TCBY, sales have improved at the Mrs. Fields chain thanks, in part to better marketing. Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

“They are not where we want them,” Feltenstein said of Mrs. Fields’ sales, “but they have improved quite a bit.”Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

The company has made a “significant investment” in the franchise development team to spur growth in traditional freestanding stores, “but also to make the brand available in more non-traditional segments, such as airports, convenience stores and hospitals,” Feltenstein explained.Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

All and all, Feltenstein indicated, the recent and ongoing work by the Mrs. Fields organization is expected to permit the executive team to say about this year, what it hasn’t been able to say for quite some time: “We’re going to open many more [stores] than we close.”Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected].Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

Mrs. Fields Original Cookies Inc. has hired Timothy Casey, a veteran of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Starbucks chains, to serve as chief executive and president.

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