13 ms·

The Sticky, Untold Story of Cinnabon

Aloha 9y ago
That's a neat little human interest story!
- mark-r 9y ago
  Yes it is. But the lessons for the HN crowd are to pay attention to the ingredients of your success. Even after nailing so many aspects of the business right out of the gate, they had to discover the factors that made for a good location. A/B testing is a wonderful tool that these folks didn't have.
  - scoggs 9y ago
    I also liked the bit about being confident in what you are / what you have / what you offer. Instead of worrying about public opinion and blow back for being unhealthy or partnering with a television show about cooking meth the Cinnabon company embraced everything. It won't work so well for everyone, but I think companies and products that are a bit more on the unsavory side could take a big lesson, here. It's much more endearing than lying or being fake. It's much more endearing to admit faults or to be honest with your customers and the public about your goals and how you perceive yourself. People might not love everything about you, your product, your services or what you stand for but they will find more reasons to hate you for being a liar than for simply acknowledging what everyone already knows about you.
tlb 9y ago
Stories of chain restaurant origins are really interesting, except I find them hard to read because I'm so grossed out by the amount of obesity, diabetes, and heart-disease they've caused. Cinnabon is surely only a little behind Philip Morris in collateral damage caused.
- assface 9y ago
  > Cinnabon is surely only a little behind Philip Morris in collateral damage caused. I disagree. I had a bad bowel obstruction once after minor surgery. I was backed up for over a week. My doctor told me to head straight to the local mall and get a Cinnabon. It flushed me out like it was opening the gates of the Erie Canal. It was a miracle. The doctor later told me that he is 14 for 16 for getting people to start pooping again through Cinnabon.
  - Scaevolus 9y ago
    Cinnamon is a laxative, and has been used in herbal medicine for a long time. In this case, it's the 15 teaspoons of sugar that helps the medicine go down!
  - solotronics 9y ago
    you smell obstructed bowels? I smell the opportunity for a cinnabon FDA approved as a laxative
  - girvo 9y ago
    I have gastroesophogeal reflux disorder, and used to regularly get food randomly “come up” and get stuck in my throat making it hard to breathe. My doctor quite literally “prescribed” a can of Pepsi: the carbonation and acidity did the trick! Now I keep a bottle of soda water in the fridge for all meals :)
- Aloha 9y ago
  In the case of cinnabon, I'd profoundly disagree with you: "The company anticipated mega sales when it opened bakeries in a handful of Seattle-area QFCs in 1996. Instead, remembers Greg, “We’d get a three-month boost, and sales would just die.” In marketing speak, Cinnabon suffers from high levels of “product fatigue.” In real talk, it’s not the type of thing most people can eat on a regular basis and maintain their self-respect—or their pant size. Grocery store regulars eventually learn to resist the siren song of icing, dough, and cinnamon goo." In any case, you choose to smoke, you choose to eat too much, you choose to do things - while yes, you can get addicted to nicotine (and likely will), and you might get addicted to junk food - you made the choice in the first place - its not as if the risks are unknowns. While I'm in favor of a gradual delegalization of tobacco, banning food is beyond the pale for me - moderated consumption of even calorie bombs like cinnabon, has not been proven harmful - what alternative do you have?
jpatokal 9y ago
Totally random factoid: Cinnabon is huge in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the few places that gives the US a run for its money in having large numbers of wealthy and morbidly obese people who drive everywhere and get virtually no exercise. I also spotted one in Tokyo earlier this year, nestled in the shadow of the Mori Tower in one of the toniest neighbourhoods in the country. The rolls were scaled down to Japanese size expectations, but the shop was still rattlingly empty every time I passed by around 9 AM in the morning at what you'd expect to be commuter peak hour.
- rtpg 9y ago
  The Tokyo one gets lines on weekends, but to be honest Cinnabon is just way too much relative to other food here. Even having spent my childhood chugging Doctor Peppers and stuffing my face with pizzas, I couldn't deal with a normal-ish roll from there after being here. There's a Frijoles close to the Cinnabon, and I came away with the same feeling. Just way too much, and way too heavy.
  - hellonewworld 9y ago
    Way too much, and way too heavy? What kinds of foods do Japanese eat for breakfast?
    - dguaraglia 9y ago
      I was actually surprised by this. At least in hotels (specially in the traditional "ryokans"), the Japanese breakfast consists of some sort of fish (normally grilled), rice, some small bites (mostly for flavor) of seaweeds and some soup or another. I have no idea what people eat at home, but all in all it's not a terrible way to start your day (once you get over not having a bunch of sweet stuff.)
      - jpatokal 9y ago
        Well, that's the canonical Japanese breakfast, in the same way that a canonical American breakfast is eggs, bacon, baked beans, hash browns, pancakes etc -- but most people scarf down some cereal instead. Rice for breakfast is definitely a thing though, but it's a lot simpler than ryokan fare: in my student days, I often just had last night's leftovers with a cup of miso soup and maybe some pickles. Here's an interesting view of various actual Japanese breakfasts, although I suspect these are also towards the elaborate end of the spectrum: https://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/02/20/whats-really-for-breakfast-japanese-people-tell-us-what-they-usually-eat-each-morning-%E3%80%90photos%E3%80%91/ https://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/02/20/whats-really-for-brea...
memsom 9y ago
Cinnabon is a guilty pleasure when I'm visiting family in the US and Canada. There was only one remaining store in the UK in the Trocadero Centre in London last time I looked, but it seems they have expanded again and have a bunch of London locations and a couple outside of London. When I was working in London I would go every now and again and buy a tray and take them back to the office. No one ever complained.

That's a neat little human interest story!

mark-r 9y ago
Yes it is. But the lessons for the HN crowd are to pay attention to the ingredients of your success. Even after nailing so many aspects of the business right out of the gate, they had to discover the factors that made for a good location. A/B testing is a wonderful tool that these folks didn't have.
- scoggs 9y ago
  I also liked the bit about being confident in what you are / what you have / what you offer. Instead of worrying about public opinion and blow back for being unhealthy or partnering with a television show about cooking meth the Cinnabon company embraced everything. It won't work so well for everyone, but I think companies and products that are a bit more on the unsavory side could take a big lesson, here. It's much more endearing than lying or being fake. It's much more endearing to admit faults or to be honest with your customers and the public about your goals and how you perceive yourself. People might not love everything about you, your product, your services or what you stand for but they will find more reasons to hate you for being a liar than for simply acknowledging what everyone already knows about you.

tlb 9y ago

Stories of chain restaurant origins are really interesting, except I find them hard to read because I'm so grossed out by the amount of obesity, diabetes, and heart-disease they've caused. Cinnabon is surely only a little behind Philip Morris in collateral damage caused.

assface 9y ago
> Cinnabon is surely only a little behind Philip Morris in collateral damage caused. I disagree. I had a bad bowel obstruction once after minor surgery. I was backed up for over a week. My doctor told me to head straight to the local mall and get a Cinnabon. It flushed me out like it was opening the gates of the Erie Canal. It was a miracle. The doctor later told me that he is 14 for 16 for getting people to start pooping again through Cinnabon.
- Scaevolus 9y ago
  Cinnamon is a laxative, and has been used in herbal medicine for a long time. In this case, it's the 15 teaspoons of sugar that helps the medicine go down!
- solotronics 9y ago
  you smell obstructed bowels? I smell the opportunity for a cinnabon FDA approved as a laxative
- girvo 9y ago
  I have gastroesophogeal reflux disorder, and used to regularly get food randomly “come up” and get stuck in my throat making it hard to breathe. My doctor quite literally “prescribed” a can of Pepsi: the carbonation and acidity did the trick! Now I keep a bottle of soda water in the fridge for all meals :)
Aloha 9y ago
In the case of cinnabon, I'd profoundly disagree with you: "The company anticipated mega sales when it opened bakeries in a handful of Seattle-area QFCs in 1996. Instead, remembers Greg, “We’d get a three-month boost, and sales would just die.” In marketing speak, Cinnabon suffers from high levels of “product fatigue.” In real talk, it’s not the type of thing most people can eat on a regular basis and maintain their self-respect—or their pant size. Grocery store regulars eventually learn to resist the siren song of icing, dough, and cinnamon goo." In any case, you choose to smoke, you choose to eat too much, you choose to do things - while yes, you can get addicted to nicotine (and likely will), and you might get addicted to junk food - you made the choice in the first place - its not as if the risks are unknowns. While I'm in favor of a gradual delegalization of tobacco, banning food is beyond the pale for me - moderated consumption of even calorie bombs like cinnabon, has not been proven harmful - what alternative do you have?

jpatokal 9y ago

Totally random factoid: Cinnabon is huge in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the few places that gives the US a run for its money in having large numbers of wealthy and morbidly obese people who drive everywhere and get virtually no exercise. I also spotted one in Tokyo earlier this year, nestled in the shadow of the Mori Tower in one of the toniest neighbourhoods in the country. The rolls were scaled down to Japanese size expectations, but the shop was still rattlingly empty every time I passed by around 9 AM in the morning at what you'd expect to be commuter peak hour.

rtpg 9y ago
The Tokyo one gets lines on weekends, but to be honest Cinnabon is just way too much relative to other food here. Even having spent my childhood chugging Doctor Peppers and stuffing my face with pizzas, I couldn't deal with a normal-ish roll from there after being here. There's a Frijoles close to the Cinnabon, and I came away with the same feeling. Just way too much, and way too heavy.
- hellonewworld 9y ago
  Way too much, and way too heavy? What kinds of foods do Japanese eat for breakfast?
  - dguaraglia 9y ago
    I was actually surprised by this. At least in hotels (specially in the traditional "ryokans"), the Japanese breakfast consists of some sort of fish (normally grilled), rice, some small bites (mostly for flavor) of seaweeds and some soup or another. I have no idea what people eat at home, but all in all it's not a terrible way to start your day (once you get over not having a bunch of sweet stuff.)
    - jpatokal 9y ago
      Well, that's the canonical Japanese breakfast, in the same way that a canonical American breakfast is eggs, bacon, baked beans, hash browns, pancakes etc -- but most people scarf down some cereal instead. Rice for breakfast is definitely a thing though, but it's a lot simpler than ryokan fare: in my student days, I often just had last night's leftovers with a cup of miso soup and maybe some pickles. Here's an interesting view of various actual Japanese breakfasts, although I suspect these are also towards the elaborate end of the spectrum: https://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/02/20/whats-really-for-breakfast-japanese-people-tell-us-what-they-usually-eat-each-morning-%E3%80%90photos%E3%80%91/ https://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/02/20/whats-really-for-brea...

memsom 9y ago

Cinnabon is a guilty pleasure when I'm visiting family in the US and Canada. There was only one remaining store in the UK in the Trocadero Centre in London last time I looked, but it seems they have expanded again and have a bunch of London locations and a couple outside of London. When I was working in London I would go every now and again and buy a tray and take them back to the office. No one ever complained.