Froyo was dead. Pinkberry halved its locations. Red Mango went from 300 to just a few dozen stores.
Then Danny Duncan bought New York’s biggest froyo chain: 16 Handles.
Now, they’re opening new stores across Florida. Sales are up. And even the New York Times is asking: Is froyo back?
Thanks to Duncan…yeah, it is.
How Danny Duncan Bought 16 Handles
Duncan first tried 16 Handles while filming in NY, shouting it out in a video. A few days later, the store’s franchisee, Neil Hershman, slid into his DMs to say thanks.
“We kept talking and I was like 'Why don't [we] just buy the whole company?'” Duncan told me during our interview.
So the duo did. Hershman took over as CEO, and Duncan stepped in as Chief Creative Officer — bringing his audience with him as the new co-owner of New York’s biggest froyo chain.
Why It Worked
Duncan turned 16 Handles into something Gen Z would actually post about.
- Pop-up in NYC complete with custom merch and a limited-edition flavor.
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16 Handles froyo truck in one of Duncan's videos, now sitting at over 4.3M views.
Now, 16 Handles has had three straight years of 10%+ revenue growth and is expanding into more states.
It's Becoming A Trend
In 2024, Ryan Trahan did the same thing with candy.
He didn’t found Joyride — but he helped reinvent it when he became a co-owner. New packaging. Less sugar. Cleaner ingredients. A fresh product line built with his audience in mind.
“All of the old candy that I wasn’t a part of is going to get phased out,” Trahan explained.
Like Duncan, Trahan didn’t just slap his face on a label. He rebuilt the brand from the inside out.
Our Take
Welcome to the creator turnaround era.
In a world full of creator products, expect to see more of this: creators joining existing brands instead of starting from scratch.
Because honestly? Building infrastructure is hard. Suppliers, staff, distribution — it's a grind. Especially when you're trying to keep uploading.
By joining an existing brand, creators can plug into a flywheel that’s already spinning and help rebuild it from the inside. All while bringing their audience with them.
It’s also how creators get off the algorithm roller coaster. Because relying on AdSense alone? That’s a gamble.
As Codie Sanchez put it in our interview:
"I think if you're a creator today and you're not thinking about acquiring businesses and how to get equity — you're making a huge mistake. If you are only living off of AdSense...you're in trouble."
Expect more of this to come.