The story
Founded by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins in 1945, in Glendale.1
Throughout the 1940s in Southern California, Americans Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins independently opened shops selling ice cream. The pair were brothers-in-law, and both had experience working with ice cream: Robbins's father owned an ice cream shop where Robbins worked as a teenager, and Baskin had made ice cream for fellow navymen in World War II. In America at the time, consumers were very attached to three ice-cream flavors: chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, despite the efforts of another businessman, Howard Johnson.
Robbins opened his first store, Snowbird Ice Cream, in 1945 in Glendale, selling 21 flavors, then an unusual number of flavors. 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. By this point their businesses were associated, and that year, they purchased a dairy in Burbank to gain more control over production.
In 1953, the approach of separate brand identities was dropped, and the entity "Baskin-Robbins 31 Ice Cream" was created per the advice of the advertising firm Carson/Roberts. The order of their surnames was decided by a coin toss. The "31" referenced the number of flavors, chosen to permit the customer a new flavor each day of the month; some of these original flavors included Chocolate Mint, Black Walnut and Coffee Candy. Along with the original 31 flavors, Baskin-Robbins also offers seasonal flavors and flavors of the month such as America's Birthday Cake and Pumpkin Cheescake. As they expanded, the pair began franchising their stores, allowing them to reach to over 7000 locations by 2012.
Beyond the large number of flavors, Baskin-Robbins was unusual for their stores decorated with clowns and pink and brown polka dots, intended to reflect a value of fun. Their stores also introduced small sampling spoons, an element which has since been replicated in many ice cream stores. Baskin-Robbins was different from old-fashioned ice cream parlors and soda fountains as they did not encourage customers to eat in their stores. 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. Baskin-Robbins was owned by its founders until 1967, just before Baskin's death, when it was acquired by the United Fruit Company for an estimated $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 initial public offering. The next year, J. Lyons and Co. purchased Baskin-Robbins and all public stock. The firm then merged with Allied Breweries, becoming Allied-Lyons in 1978. In 1994, Allied-Lyons merged with Pedro Domecq S.A, becoming Allied Domecq. For the next year they remained under the control of Allied Domecq as part of Dunkin' Brands, Inc., made up of them and Dunkin' Donuts.
During the early 2000s, Baskin-Robbins struggled to retain business. In 2006, Dunkin' Brands was purchased by a group of private equity firms – Bain Capital, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and The Carlyle Group. That year, the company's "BR" logo was updated to highlight reference the number "31". In 2012, Dunkin' Brands became independent from the private equity firms. New stores opened in the mid-2010s, often co-branded with Dunkin' Donuts.
In 2014, Baskin-Robbins began selling ice cream in supermarkets for the first time in the U.S. Three years later, the brand began selling via delivery service platform DoorDash in 22 US cities. In December 2020, Dunkin' Brands was purchased by Inspire Brands. Baskin-Robbins debuted an updated logo, alongside the new tagline "Seize the Yay", in 2022. Chris Buck and Barack Obama are two notable former employees.
From Wikipedia’s article on Baskin-Robbins, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4