Carvel History
1906Thomas A. Carvelas was born in Athens, Greece on July 14th
1910
Tom Carvel was brought to New York City by his parents
1929
After borrowing $15 from his future wife, Agnes Stewart, Tom Carvel began his company by selling ice cream from the back of his mobile truck
1934
Nation's first retail ice cream company starts
when Tom Carvel's vending truck suffers a flat
tire in Hartsdale, NY during Memorial Day
Weekend, and he begins selling his melting ice
cream from his broken down truck
Begins manufacturing equipment for sale to the ice cream industry
1936Forms Carvel Corporation 1936
Opens first store on site of broken down truck 1936
Patents "no air pump" super-low temperature ice cream machine
1936
Develops secret soft serve ice cream formula
1936
First to introduce the marketing concept "Buy
One Get One Free"
1937
Tom Carvel marries Agnes Stewart
1939
Tom Carvel builds the first soft serve ice cream machine
1947Patents all-glass front building with pitched roof; later copied by McDonalds 1947
First to franchise a retail ice cream store in the U.S. 1949
Begins franchisee training seminar, Carvel College of Ice Cream Knowledge (franchisees affectionately refer to it as Sundae School) 1950
Tom Carvel creates most complete franchise contract in industry; only franchise contract to survive the FTC and US Supreme Court
1951
First in the industry with a round ice cream sandwich, the Flying Saucer
1953
Opens first prefabricated ice cream store in Glastonbury, CT
1954
First in the industry with the gift certificate concept
1954
Holds the first annual "Little Miss Half Pint" beauty pageant for children under the age of six; 15,000 entries received annually 1955
First in the industry with a line of ice cream vending vehicles 1955
First to use CEO in radio and TV commercials
1956Introduces the first ice cream supermarket on the site of original Hartsdale, NY store 1969
First in industry to develop complete line of all-Kosher products 1972
First in industry to introduce Lo-Yo frozen yogurt and Thinny-Thin frozen dietary desserts 1989
Sells to Investcorp, an international investment bank
1990
Tom Carvel passes away in his sleep
1991
Relocates to Farmington, Connecticut
Begins Direct Sales Delivery (DSD) Supermarket Branded Freezer Market Program
Develops multi-pronged distribution business model including retail shops, stadiums, super club stores and supermarkets 1998
Places Carvel branded freezers in 4,500 supermarkets
1998Introduces Lil' Love cakes 2001
Sells to Roark Capital Group, a private equity firm 2002
Relocates supermarket headquarters to Rocky Hill, CT
2002
Relocates franchise headquarters to Atlanta, GA
2002Sets Guinness World Record™ for Largest Ice Cream Scoop Pyramid 2003
Introduces 98% Fat Free Flying Saucers, Uptown Smoothies, and Slice Mmm's 2003
Opens new store prototype in Vero Beach, FL 2004
Celebrates 70th Birthday by setting Guinness World Record for the Largest Ice Cream Cake
20042004 FOCUS Brands is created; Carvel joins Cinnabon and Seattle's Best Coffee International to form new food service company 2005
Introduces Sundae Dashers 2006
Celebrates Fudgie the Whale's 30th birthday
2008
Introduces new Artic Blenders & Blended Coffees
