Michael Serruya, who introduced Canadians to frozen yogourt
via his Yogen Fruz chain of retail outlets that grew to include TCBY (The
Country’s Best Yogourt) and then giant Coolbrands International Inc. before it
flamed out, is back in dairy retailing.
He has gained control of Cold Stone Creamery and plans to
double the location partnerships with Tim Hortons Inc.
Michael and his brother, Aaron, ended up in financial
trouble when they over-extended themselves in a series of audacious take-overs
of dairy companies.
Their business that peaked at sales of $450 million a year
in 2004 skidded and they began selling in 2006.
The Serruya family, including younger brother Simon,
has been rebuilding Yogen Fruz and
recently launched Yogurty’s.
And now the family has bought Cold Stone Creamery via an
auction of its parent company, Kahala Corp. which controls about a dozen
fast-food chains with 3,035 locations in 23 countries.
It has annual sales of more than $1 billion and includes
brands such as Taco Time, Blimpie Submarines and Samurai Sam’s Terriyaki Grill.
Kahala came up for auction after the owner, Robert Peterson,
died in 2007, leaving no heirs after his two sons died in a plane crash in
2005. He was a billionaire publisher.
