Carvel (restaurant) - Carvel Today

Carvel Today

In 1989, an aging Tom Carvel sold the corporation to Investcorp for over $80 million. In 1991, headquarters was moved to Farmington, Connecticut.

On December 11, 2001, Roark Capital Group, a private equity firm, purchased a controlling interest in Carvel Corporation from Investcorp. Investcorp became a minority share holder.

Carvel was for most of its history a regional business, most strongly based on the East Coast of the USA. As the business climate has changed, so has some of the focus of the brand. There are, as of 2005, approximately 530 retail franchises, far fewer than at their peak. Carvel branded products are available in over 9,500 supermarkets. Celebration Foods has pushed the brand's presence from 30 states in 2004 to 49 in 2008, allowing them to form merchandising partnerships with national brands, such as ice cream cakes featuring Mars's M&M's characters. Focus Brands is based in Atlanta, Georgia, Celebration Foods is based in New Britain, Connecticut.

In August 2007, the current owner of the very first Carvel store in Hartsdale revealed that he had applied for permission to knock down the store and develop a retail strip on the property.

In October 2008, the current land owners where the first Carvel stands stated they need to put a larger restaurant on the property to make back their investment and the first Carvel store would be closing.

In late March 2009, the Hartsdale location (the first Carvel location) was demolished to make way for a Japanese restaurant.