Thomas Carvel was born in Greece in 1906 and immigrated to the United States, eventually starting his own soft serve ice cream business in Connecticut in the 1930s. By the 1950s, Carvel had established hundreds of franchise locations along the East Coast through his strict regulations and high fees. However, this led to tensions and a lawsuit from frustrated franchisees in the 1950s that damaged his reputation. Nonetheless, Carvel expanded to over 700 locations by the 1970s before selling his company in 1989 for $80 million, having created a successful ice cream empire from humble beginnings.

1. THOMAS CARVEL
ICE CREAM GENIUS
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2. HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Born in Greece in 1906, one of six children
Family settled in Connecticut
As a teenager Carvel worked as a automobile test driver
Worked in his garage and developed a soft ice cream machine
Carvel patented his invention and began selling ice cream from the
back of his truck
Moved business into a permanent store two years after starting out
Carvel allowed other stores to sell his ice cream and soft serve
machine in exchange for royalties on his products
Beginning of ice cream franchise

3. THE BUSINESS GROWS
By 1947 Carvel had opened 25 ice cream stores
Carvel recorded his own advertisements drastically boosting revenue
All Carvel stores had the exact same design, boosting consumer
awareness
The 100th Carvel ice cream store opened in 1951 and 200th by the
end of that year
Carvel required franchisees follow strict company regulations and
pay high operating fees
The 500th store in 1956
In just under ten years, Carvel had created an ice cream empire on
the East Coast

4. A TROUBLESOME SITUATION
Due to strict supervision of store operations,
franchisees become extremely frustrated with the
Carvel Corporation
In 1956 a group of franchisees sued the company on
the grounds of anti trust violations
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A huge legal battle ensued, tarnishing the company’s mgurl=http://www.roadsidenut.co
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reputation
During this time Carvel lost 70% of his corporations
franchisees
The Carvel Corporation was ultimately vindicated and
awarded 10.3 million dollars in punitive damages.
“Sure they call me strict when I try to control them, but
poison one child and 50 years of business goes down the
drain.”
-Tom Carvel

5. CONTINUED EXPANSION
In need of capital, the Carvel Corporation became a publicly traded
company (1969)
By 1971 there were 500 Carvel Ice Cream shops
Carvel continued to create his own advertisements despite his critics
bashing him for his gravelly voice and unscripted methods
There were over 700 operating stores by 1976
Carvel increased his share in the company to 90 percent
He took the company private and was once again his own boss

6. THE COMPANY SELLS
Carvel sold his shares of the corporation to a private investment company in
1989
Carvel received 80 million dollars for the sale of his company
Unfortunately he died one year after, leaving behind an ice cream giant and
a picture perfect story of the American Dream

7. WORK CITED
Callahan, Tom. "Tom Callahan Writes On Business From Yonkers
NY." New York Times 1 Dec. 1985, late ed.: A7. Print.
Carlino, Bill. "Whipped $15 Dollar Loan into a Soft Serve Empire."
Nations Restaurant News 13 Aug. 1989: 4-7. Print.
Carvel Corporation. "Tom Carvel." Tom Carvel. Carvel Ice Cream.
Web. 26 Sept. 2009.
<http://www.carvel.com/about_us/tom_carvel.htm>.
Dreyfack, Madeleine. "FOUR WHO DARED." Proquest. Apr.-May
1982. Web. 26 Sept. 2009. <http://
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=9045960&sid=8&Fmt=2&clientId
=7065&RQT=309&VName=PQD>.
Fowler, Glenn. "Tom Carvel, 84, Gravelly Voice Of Soft Ice Cream
Chain, Is Dead." The New York Times 22 Oct. 1990, late ed. Print.