16 Handles CEO Neil Hershman has seen the news on frozen yogurt being a stale category. He doesn’t entirely disagree. As he says, “Perceptions are based on some level of reality.” Hershman saw legacy brands maintain the status quo. There was a refusal to evolve, meet cultural shifts, or deploy any engaging marketing. At the same time, they didn’t encourage franchisees to update stores or remain proactive in day-to-day management. “There was no product innovation, there’s no marketing innovation, and the stores were being run poorly and so their same-store sales declined,” Hershman said. “And because they’re the big legacy brands, that’s what the market said must be happening to the industry and to the segment.” But the 35-unit 16 Handles doesn’t fit into this downward trend. It never has, especially after Hershman—who franchises six stores himself in New York City—bought the company in 2022. The CEO says 2025 was the chain’s biggest growth year yet, and that’s in terms of comps, revenue, new store openings, and franchise agreements. Last year, 16 Handles debuted eight shops across New York, Texas, South Carolina, and Florida. Many set grand opening records, earning as much as $13,000 in gross sales on opening day. Some are expected to surpass $1 million in revenue in their first 12 months, which the company described as a “previously unheard-of metric in the frozen dessert category.” “That was, I think, for a long time thought of as the golden Easter egg. You get a million-dollar shop if it…
