Cinnabon
Cinnabon is an American chain of baked goods stores and kiosks, normally found in areas with high pedestrian traffic such as malls, airports and rest stops. The company's signature item is the cinnamon roll. As of December 2017, there are more than 1,200 Cinnabon bakeries operating in 48 countries.[1] Its headquarters are in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States.[2][3]
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![]() Cinnabon mall bakery location in Moscow, Russia (2019) | |
Type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Restaurants |
Founded | 1985Federal Way, Washington | in
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Kendall Ware (Chief Brand Officer) Kat Cole (CEO) |
Products | Cinnamon rolls Coffee Churros Milkshakes |
Parent | AFC Enterprises (1998–2004) Focus Brands (2004–present) |
Website | cinnabon |
The company is co-owned — with Schlotzsky's, Carvel, Moe's Southwest Grill, McAlister's Deli, Jamba, and Auntie Anne's brands — by Focus Brands, an affiliate of private equity firm Roark Capital Group,[4] based in Sandy Springs, Georgia, operating over 5,000 stores.
History

The first Cinnabon opened on December 4, 1985, in Federal Way, Washington at SeaTac Mall, now called The Commons at Federal Way. Cinnabon was an offshoot of the Seattle-based Restaurants Unlimited chain, majority owned by Rich Komen, with minority partner and CEO Ray Lindstrom at the helm. Komen and Lindstrom wanted to create the perfect cinnamon roll, eventually hiring Jerilyn Brusseau to finalize the recipe since Brusseau was famous for her baking in the Seattle area.[5] The first bakery began by serving only its cinnamon rolls with a sign touting "World Famous Cinnamon Rolls". Cinnabon's first franchise-operated store opened in August 1986 just outside of Philadelphia at the King of Prussia Mall. Cinnabon stores today can also be found in gas stations, universities, rapid transit stations, casinos, and amusement parks.
Cinnabon was bought by AFC Enterprises, Inc. in 1998 for $65 million.[6] In 2004, AFC Enterprises, Inc., sold Cinnabon for $30.3 million to FOCUS Brands, Inc., which is owned by the Atlanta-based private equity firm Roark Capital Group.[7][8] The headquarters moved to Greater Atlanta in 1999.[2] In 2020, British retail group EG Group announced a partnership with Cinnabon to open 150 branded stores in the UK over 5 years.[9][10]
On October 8, 2018, Cinnabon partnered with Pizza Hut to release mini cinnamon rolls labeled "Cinnabon Mini Rolls" in Pizza Hut (also known as MiniBons outside of Pizza Hut). These cinnamon rolls continue to be available at Pizza Hut.[11] In 2020, Pizza Hut brought back the Triple Treat Box, containing 2 medium one-topping pizzas, five breadsticks, and ten Cinnabon Mini Rolls.
International locations
Current locations
Cinnabon has franchise operations in 48 countries and places which include:
- Armenia
- Australia[12]
- Azerbaijan
- Bahrain
- Belarus
- Bolivia
- Brunei
- Canada
- Chile
- Costa Rica
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic[13]
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Georgia
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Honduras
- Hong Kong[14]
- India
- Indonesia
- Iraq[15]
- Jamaica[16]
- Japan
- Jordan[17]
- Kuwait[18]
- Libya (Cinnabon is noted for being the first U.S franchise to open in Libya after the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.[19])
- Malta[20]
- Malaysia
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Qatar
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore[21]
- South Africa
- South Korea[22]
- Spain
- Thailand
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom (Partnership with EG Group)
- United States (including Puerto Rico)
- Venezuela
Former locations

- Cinnabon (sīnābūn) in Saudi Arabia
- Cinnabon at Governor's Square Mall, Clarksville, Tennessee
- Cinnabon store in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- A Cinnabon store (right) at the Angola Travel Plaza on the New York Thruway, Angola, New York
- A Cinnabon store at West Valley Mall in Tracy, California
- Cinnabon at the Stoa Korai Arcade Mall in Athens, Greece
- Cinnabon in the Philippines
- Cinnabon location at The Oaks Mall in Gainesville, Florida
In popular culture
In the AMC television series Better Call Saul, the main character, Saul Goodman, is shown working at a Cinnabon store in Nebraska as he is a fugitive from justice and living under an assumed name.
Several comedians, including Louis C.K. and Jim Gaffigan, have admitted to consuming Cinnabons in a self-deprecating way.[23][24]
In the StarKid musical Black Friday, the audience overhears Linda Monroe remind her husband that he is not allowed "within a thousand feet of a Cinnabon". Linda says she doesn't believe he just wants to smell them.
In the 2007 animated comedy film Bee Movie, protagonist Barry B. Benson describes a Cinnabon to his friend Adam Flayman as "bread and cinnamon and frosting, and they heat it up, really hot!" Later in the film, Adam is shown sleeping in a Cinnabon box.
Toward the end of the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, protagonist Walter Mitty meets with his eHarmony customer service representative, Todd Maher, at a Cinnabon.
In the sitcom Modern Family, while Jay, Gloria and Joe were escaping of the LAPD, Jay was going to declare himself to the police but instead he asked to the policeman where was the nearest Cinnabon.
In the 2017 comedy-drama film Please Stand By, protagonist Wendy Welcott works at a Cinnabon store in a mall in San Francisco, California.
In the sitcom Brooklyn 99, Captain Raymond Holt (played by Andre Braugher) pronounces the chain as seen-a-bawn.
See also
References
- Scents from a Mall: The Sticky, Untold Story of Cinnabon. Seattle Met, Retrieved 12 December 2017
- "Cinnabon At-A-Glance Archived October 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine." Cinnabon. Retrieved on February 25, 2010.
- "City Council Districts Archived January 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine." City of Sandy Springs. Retrieved on July 4, 2009.
- Focus Brands To Buy Cinnabon From AFC Enterprises. New York Times, September 9, 2004
- Scents from a Mall: The Sticky, Untold Story of Cinnabon. Seattle Met, Retrieved 4 February 2019
- "NY Times: AFC Enterprises to Purchase Cinnabon International". The New York Times. August 19, 1998. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
- "NY Times: Focus Brands to Buy Cinnabon from AFC Enterprises". The New York Times. September 9, 2004. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
- "Roark Capital Group :: Portfolio Companies". roarkcapital.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2009.
- "EG Group to Open 150 Cinnabon® Bakeries Across the UK Under New Master Licensee Deal". Euro Garages. November 30, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- Gilbert2020-11-30T12:00:00+00:00, Helen. "Cinnabon to open 150 sites in the UK". British Baker. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- "Pizza Hut Will Now Deliver Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls With Your Pizza Order". Thrillist. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- Barnsley, Warren (November 20, 2019). "Brisbane wins race for Australia's first Cinnabon, with store to open next month". 7News. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
- "Twenty-five new brands came to the Czech market last year". January 13, 2021.
- "Cinnabon Hong Kong opens at Olympian City today!".
- Cinnabon opens its first store in Iraq
- Auntie Anne's, Cinnabon debut in Jamaica
- "Cinnabon Branches, Amman, Jordan". Jordan Sun.
- "Cinnabon in kuwait Locations & Store Hours". www.mystore411.com.
- "Libya Herald: Tripoli's Cinnabon sales on a sugar high". December 29, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
- "Cinnabon – the Point".
- Sufyan, Juan (December 15, 2022). "World's famous cinnamon roll chain, Cinnabon, to launch in Singapore next Feb 2023 at Raffles City". Yahoo! News. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- "US bakery Cinnabon taps Seoul market". November 8, 2017., The Korea Herald, Retrieved May 8, 2018
- "Louis C.K. – Cinnabon". Genius. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- Cinnabon, retrieved December 4, 2020
External links

- Official website
- Scents from a Mall: The Sticky, Untold Story of Cinnabon from Seattle Met