16 Handles

16 Handles is a New York City based frozen yogurt and dessert brand known for self-serve and soft-serve treats, toppings, and frozen novelties. Guests build their own combinations from rotating lines of frozen yogurt, ice cream, non-dairy options, and an extensive toppings bar, with many shops also offering grab-and-go desserts and delivery-friendly items. The chain operates primarily as a franchise system with a mix of franchisee and company-operated locations in the Northeast and select Sunbelt markets.

The company was founded in 2008 by entrepreneur Solomon Choi, who opened the first 16 Handles in Manhattan’s East Village. That store is widely recognized as New York City’s first self-serve frozen yogurt shop and helped introduce the model of multiple “handles” on the wall where guests pour their own yogurt and pay by weight. From that single unit, 16 Handles spent the next decade growing across New York City and into nearby suburban markets, formalizing its franchise program and building a regional footprint.

A key turning point came in 2021, when New York multi-unit franchisee Neil Hershman acquired the company and stepped in as CEO. Under Hershman, 16 Handles updated its branding, modernized the store look, and expanded beyond traditional frozen yogurt to include vegan and all-natural ice cream, sorbet, and other frozen desserts. The brand also began to pursue partnerships more aggressively, including co-branded locations with Insomnia Cookies that bring late-night dessert traffic and cross-promotion between the two concepts. In 2022, 16 Handles entered Florida and additional new states, signaling a more assertive expansion strategy than in prior years.

As of June 2024, 16 Handles operates roughly 30 locations across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, and a handful of additional states. Units are typically small-format dessert shops in neighborhood retail corridors, mixed-use projects, urban high-street locations, and grocery-anchored centers. Most stores use a self-serve or semi self-serve soft-serve bar with a toppings line, supported by online ordering and third-party delivery to help capture off-premise dessert demand.

Over the past five years, the brand has evolved from a New York-centric frozen yogurt chain into a broader dessert platform with a more flexible real estate and partnership strategy. Growth today is focused on franchising, with an emphasis on multi-unit operators and targeted expansion in the New York City metro area, New Jersey suburbs, Connecticut, South Florida, college and campus-adjacent settings, and other high-foot-traffic urban corridors along the East Coast.

For landlords, brokers, and developers, 16 Handles brings a recognizable regional name in the frozen dessert category, typically in a compact box that can slide into inline space or smaller bays. The concept tends to draw evening and weekend visits and fits well alongside restaurants, entertainment tenants, and daily-needs retail. Its franchise-driven model, active pipeline under an owner-operator CEO, and willingness to co-brand with complementary concepts position 16 Handles as a steady, traffic-generating dessert user in dense residential and high-traffic trade areas.