MaggieMoo's International

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MaggieMoo's International Ice Cream Treatery opened in 1989 in Columbia, Maryland by Richard Sharoff, is a premium ice cream parlor. It has won five blue ribbon awards by National Ice Cream Retailer's Association – Vanilla, Vanilla Bean, Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, and Strawberry – and is 416th on Entrepreneur Magazine’s ranking of the top 500 franchise opportunities.

The company already has 190 franchises in the United States and is developing another 150, with projected sales at $50 million for 2006. MaggieMoo's closed its franchises in Bangkok and has no plans for further international expansion.

Like its direct competitors, Cold Stone Creamery and Marble Slab, it serves a unique premium ice cream blend – ice cream containing 12 percent or more of butterfat – by mixing in various treats into the ice cream – brownies, Snickers, Heath bar, sprinkles, cheesecake, fudge, etc. – on frozen granite. Other ice cream parlors such as Baskin Robins, Ben & Jerry's, Häagen-Dazs and the like serve their ice cream, with simple toppings – crushed cookies and sprinkles – at a lower price.

The company's mascot is a cow named "Maggie." Many francises have a "Maggie" suit that is occasionally worn by treatery staff in order to draw attention to the parlor.

In 2007 NexCen Brands, Inc. (NASDAQ: NEXC) announced it has closed the acquisitions of MaggieMoo's International, LLC ('MaggieMoo's') and Marble Slab Creamery, Inc., for a total combined initial purchase price of $37.1 million, plus a potential earn-out of up to $2 million on the MaggieMoo's acquisition. These two transactions mark the first acquisitions for NexCen in the quick service restaurant (QSR) sector, and establish the QSR operating platform for NexCen's third operating vertical, in addition to its consumer branded products and retail franchise based businesses. [1]