The Mall Frozen Treat Staple That Went From 3,000 Locations To Less Than 350

As high-traffic destinations packed with small stalls, mall food courts see almost every food trend in the country come and go. At some point every food court had a Hot Dog on a Stick, or an Orange Julius — or some other concoction of convenience, that would go on to join the long list of faded restaurant chains. Some were even good enough that we wish they would come back to mall food courts. But one of the biggest food trends of the past 50 years, frozen yogurt, has come and gone a few times — and at the height of the first froyo wave the leader was TCBY.

TCBY was founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1981, and while the chain did not invent frozen yogurt, it became the first big national brand associated with it. The TCBY originally stood for "This Can't Be Yogurt," but a lawsuit from a similarly-named shop forced it to change to "The Country's Best Yogurt," in 1984. During the '80s, frozen yogurt took off as concerns over fat in food lead to a craze for healthy, low-fat snacks — something frozen yogurt was poised to capitalize on. The first froyo frenzy lasted all the way into the mid '90s, including being famously lampooned on Seinfeld. 

By the end of the decade, TCBY peaked at over 3,000 locations worldwide. However, changing tastes and new competitors meant it's been downhill since, and over the last 20 years the majority of those TCBY locations have closed — with less than 350 national stores and 250 international franchise stores as of 2025. 

The frozen yogurt market slowed in the late 90s — when there were still plenty of TCBYs — experienced a renaissance in the 2000s. But it was actually this second wave that sparked TCBY's downfall. The rebirth of froyo was driven by trendy new concepts, especially Pinkberry, which opened in West Hollywood in 2005. Pinkberry and chains like Red Mango also leaned hard into branding and creating a more trendy in-store experience. The new chains also capitalized on the same health-conscious appeal as TCBY, but they simplified the list of flavors and introduced innovations like toppings bars with fresh fruit. TCBY tried to pivot, including changing its froyo recipe to be more tart like the new rising stores, but the new competition, combined with declining mall foot traffic, was too much. The chain, which was by then partnered with another mall staple, Mrs. Fields cookies, declared bankruptcy in 2008.

There were attempts at comeback — including some success with co-branded Mrs. Fields/TCBY stores, but the chain has gone through owner after owner over the last decade and a half, being last purchased in 2023. TCBY lists less than 110 locations nationwide on its website, although there are some destinations like the Bahamas and Qatar, and the company claims there are more than 350. The number might not be up to date, or the website doesn't work, but either option doesn't make the state of TCBY look great.