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'The Worst Nightmare': One Cold Stone Creamery Location Lost All of Its Inventory — and the Meltdown Went Viral Employees had to pour the ruined product into garbage cans.

By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas

Vince Talotta | Getty Images

It's been a rough month for U.S. ice cream parlor chain Cold Stone Creamery.

TikTok videos uploaded by an anonymous Cold Stone employee on Monday reveal a fire suppression sprinkler malfunction that flooded a store and destroyed all of its inventory, Fox Business reported.

Related: Cold Stone Creamery Employee Loses 3 Fingers in Accident

The videos, which garnered more than 220,000 views and appear to have been removed from the platform, were posted via a "Cold Stone Treats" account, which documents what it's like to work at the parlor. According to Fox, the clip showed "tipped-over shelves, wet floors and many vats of melted ice cream" and employees dumping the ruined product into garbage cans.

"If this wasn't enough, I fell and hurt my wrist," the employee behind Cold Stone Treats said in the second video, per the outlet. "I was making these videos and taking these pictures. I couldn't believe [it] — I wanted somebody to come and pinch me because this was the worst nightmare. And this is where I fell and hurt myself."

The incident followed another disaster earlier this month at a Corvallis, Oregon Cold Stone Creamery. There, several employees quit after a co-worker lost three fingers cleaning an ice cream machine; they claim they never received adequate safety training and that management demonstrated a lack of compassion.

Related: Is Your Local McDonald's Ice Cream Machine Broken? Check the McBroken App.

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Cold Stone Creamery is owned by parent company Kahala Brands, an international franchisor of quick-service food restaurants that also operates brands including Blimpie, The Counter, Thai Express, Sweet Frog and more, per Reuters.
Amanda Breen

Entrepreneur Staff

Senior Features Writer

Amanda Breen is a senior features writer at Entrepreneur.com. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received an MFA in writing at Columbia University, where she was a news fellow for the School of the Arts.

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