costumes mascot

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale GroupCOLUMBIA, MD. -- When the operators of 36-unit Maggie Moo''s, costumes based here, set out to differentiate the mascot chain from other superpremium ice-cream concepts by emphasizing its family focus, they knew they had costumes a potent marketing tool with their mascot cow, Maggie.What they didn''t know was that the head-turning ability of the 7-foot-tall cow''s costume would result in a car wreck.At a store opening in Phoenix earlier this year, a car full of passengers passing by mascot waved at the store''s Maggie. Unaware of the stopped traffic ahead, the driver plowed into costumes the back of a car. The mascot resulting collision luckily was only a minor fender bender.

The company is banking on the affability of its whimsical cow motif to costumes bolster the intrinsic entertainment value of its in-line stores amid more established competitors, such as the 163-unit Marble Slab Creamery mascot and 107-store Cold Stone Creamery."I''ve always held the belief that ice cream is costumes entertainment," said Richard Sharoff, president and chief mascot and costumes and mascot executive. "People don''t get ice cream because they''re hungry; they get it because costumes they want a treat or indulgence."

"In mascot my previous life at TCBY we had a lot of fathers who felt: ''Well, I''m not going to eat frozen yogurt. I''ll let the wife and the kids get frozen yogurt, but I''ll go down the street to Baskin-Robbins or some other frozen-treats competitor.'' Here, we appeal to costumes everyone; it''s not just the kids or the mom."Marble Slab primarily mascot competes with Maggie''s on the East Coast and Cold Stone on the West Coast as well as with both brands in Texas. But there is plenty of room to build out the three franchise-driven costumes brands, said Chris Dull, Marble Slab''s mascot vice president of franchise development.