It’s the end of an era. This week, the company that holds the franchise for Cold Stone Creamery in Japan announced that it’s closing the brand’s Harajuku store at the end of April 2025. That will leave a single Cold Stone operating in the entire country.
Where did Cold Stone go wrong? Some people blame the singing.
Last days of the Harajuku Cold Stone
A sizable line formed outside of the Cold Stone Creamery in Harajuku, Tokyo as people came to take advantage of its final days in business. (Picture: Unseen Japan)
The US-based chain is famous for mixing in various additions to its ice cream, such as candies or cookies, an operation that staff perform on a large stone work area kept cold to prevent the ice cream from melting. The franchise arrived in Japan in 2005 and was acquired in 2014 by Hot Brand, which currently operates it.
The Harajuku store has only been open since June 2023. Branded as “Cold Stone Tokyo,” the store is decked out in traditional paper lanterns with a drawing of Tokyo Tower.
The company isn’t giving any reason for the sudden move. It also announced that it would close the Cold Stone in Sano Premium Outlet on May 6th. That means there will be only one Cold Stone left anywhere in Japan, at Mitsui Outlet Park Jazz Dream Nagashima (yes, the venue’s actual name) in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture.
The Harajuku store will close on April 28th, 2025. To celebrate and thank its loyal customers, the store is running a farewell campaign featuring an extremely limited-time menu. Customers were lined up out the door of the small store on Friday afternoon to try out the final flavors.
Another US business that struggles to make it in Japan
Picture: Unseen Japan
Cold Stone isn’t the first US brand to struggle here. I’ve written several articles about how Subway has failed to gain traction with a Japanese audience.
So why didn’t Cold Stone make it? It can’t be because Japan has an allergy to foreign ice cream stores. Baskin-Robbins – known here simply as “31” – has hundreds of stores, including 355 in the Kanto region alone.
Cold Stone’s price might be one factor. Many set sundaes at the store sell for around 750 yen ($5.27) to over 1,000 yen ($7), which is pricey for ice cream by Japanese standards. Convenience stores in Japan offer stiff competition in the ice cream space, with all chains selling reasonably-sized treats for well under 500 yen.
The “build-it-yourself” nature of the ice cream could also be a factor. Subway customers have complained about the chain’s ordering system, which presents an overwhelming number of choices in a country where set menus are popular. A similar factor might be at play with Cold Stone. “Choice” models, which are extremely popular in America, don’t resonate as well with consumers here.
Is the singing embarrassing?
However, some blame Cold Stone’s demise on the singing.
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In Cold Stones in the United States, if you provide a tip, the staff will sing a little song for you. Japan famously does not have a tipping culture. That means that staff might break out randomly into song at any time, making the gimmick more of a threat than a treat.
Several websites and social media discussion threads document that people are hesitant to visit Cold Stones because they’re afraid of dying of embarrassment if the staff breaks out into song. Critics contend that this “performance culture” is alien to Japanese consumers and likely to drive them away.
“After being hit with a male staff member (unmasked) ignoring me and singing after I asked them not to, I haven’t thought well about them,” one social media user wrote. “Natural consequences,” they concluded about the store’s shuttering.
“I couldn’t stand that everyone was singing and drawing attention to me,” one woman told the site Hazuka-C. “I wanted to book it out of there.”
Other critics contend that COVID-19 also impacted the chain’s business model here. The argument is that social distancing changed the way people relate to one another, rendering this “intimate” style of customer contact anathema to many customers.
Subway, whose franchise is now owned in Japan by Japanese restaurant chain Watami, is still trying to turn things around. For Cold Stone, however, it seems that it’s only a matter of time before the brand disappears from Japan’s dessert scene. Let it serve as a warning to future brands to save the singing for karaoke after work.
Sources
原宿「コールド・ストーン・クリーマリー」閉店へ 全国1店舗に. Minna no Keizai Shimbun
コールド・ストーン・クリーマリー. Wikipedia JP
コールドストーンの閉店理由はなぜ？歌が恥ずかしい・歌うな！の声が大きかった？ Nishi no Blog
【体験談】コールドストーンの歌が恥ずかしい7つの理由と解決策!周囲の反応が気になるあなたへ. Hazuka-C
AloJapan.com