Baskin-Robbins

Baskin-Robbins, Inc. is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake specialty shops owned by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in Glendale, California. Its headquarters are in Canton, Massachusetts, and shared with sibling brand Dunkin' Donuts. It is the world's largest chain of ice cream specialty stores, with more than 7,800 locations.

The company is known for its "31 flavors" slogan, with the idea that a customer could have a different flavor every day of any month. The logo includes a stylized "31" formed from the letters "B" and "R". The slogan came from the Carson-Roberts advertising agency (which later merged into Ogilvy & Mather) in 1953. The company has introduced more than 1,400 flavors since 1945, including the addition of vegan and non-dairy flavors in 2019.

During the 1940s in Southern California, American brothers-in-law Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins each opened a series of ice cream shops. The pair previously had experience working with ice cream: Robbins's father owned an ice cream shop which Robbins worked in as a teenager, and Baskin had produced ice cream for fellow troops while in the Navy during World War II. American consumers at the time were very attached to the three basic ice-cream flavors of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. This remained the case, despite the efforts of ice cream seller Howard Johnson.

Robbins opened his first store, Snowbird Ice Cream, in 1945 in Glendale, selling 21 flavors, a novel amount. The following year, Baskin opened his first store in Pasadena, Burton's Ice Cream Shop. The pair quickly opened new stores and as of 1948 they collectively had 6 stores. By 1949, this had increased to over 40. That year, they purchased a dairy in Burbank to attain greater control over production.

In 1953, the approach of separate brand identities was dropped, and the entity "Baskin-Robbins 31 Ice Cream" was created under the advice of the advertising firm Carson/Roberts. The "31" referred to the amount of flavors, an amount chosen to signify the customer could have a new flavor every day of the month. Some of these original flavors included Chocolate Mint, Black Walnut and Coffee Candy. During expansion, the pair began franchising their stores. Beyond the large amount of flavors, Baskin-Robbins was unusual for a décor intended to reflect a value of fun, containing pink and brown polka dots and clowns, and small sampling spoons they introduced which has been replicated by many ice cream stores since.

Between 1949 and 1962, the corporate firm was known as Huntington Ice Cream Company. The name succeeded The Baskin-Robbins Partnership and was eventually changed back to Baskin-Robbins, Inc. on November 26, 1962.^{[citation needed]} Baskin-Robbins was owned by its founders until it was acquired in 1967 (just before Burt Baskin's death) by the United Fruit Company, for what was estimated to be $12 million. In the 1970s, the chain expanded internationally, opening stores in Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Australia.

In 1972, the company went public when United Brands sold 17% in an IPO. A year later, the British food company J. Lyons and Co. purchased Baskin-Robbins from United Brands and all public stock. J. Lyons then merged with Allied Breweries, becoming Allied-Lyons in 1978. Allied-Lyons then merged with Pedro Domecq S.A. in 1994, becoming Allied Domecq. Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin' Donuts comprise Dunkin' Brands, Inc. Dunkin' Brands was part of Allied Domecq until its purchase in 2006 by a group of private equity firms – Bain Capital, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and The Carlyle Group.

In 2006, the company's "BR" logo was updated such that it doubles as the number "31" to represent the 31 flavors, with the "31" formed by the parts of the letters "BR" which are rendered in pink, in contrast to the rest of the logo which is rendered in blue.