Freddy's Frozen Custard is no longer St. Louis owned

ST. LOUIS — Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, the popular fast-casual chain with roots tied to Missouri, has changed ownership once again.

The Wichita-based brand was sold this week by Thompson Street Capital Partners, a St. Louis private equity firm, to investment funds affiliated with Rhône, a global private equity group. Freddy’s will keep its corporate headquarters in Wichita, and its leadership team.

Thompson Street acquired Freddy’s in 2021 from co-founders and brothers Bill and Randy Simon, along with their friend and business partner Scott Redler. At that time, the chain operated about 400 locations. Under St. Louis-based ownership, Freddy’s grew to more than 550 restaurants across the U.S., generating about $1 billion in sales this year. They even began to expand internationally, with the opening of their first location in Winnipeg, Canada this summer.

While Freddy’s was founded in Wichita, Kansas, the company’s inspiration has strong ties to Missouri. Scott Redler, who grew up in St. Louis, credits his love of frozen custard to visits to Ted Drewes, the city’s custard staple. Co-founder Randy Simon developed his own appreciation for frozen custard during family trips to the Lake of the Ozarks. Together, those experiences shaped the concept when Freddy’s first opened its doors in 2002. The restaurant is named after World War II veteran Freddy Simon, the father of the restaurant’s co-founders.

The chain has since become a favorite in the St. Louis area, adding multiple locations and even debuting at Busch Stadium in 2023. Despite no longer being owned by anyone from the St. Louis area, Freddy’s maintains a strong connection to Missouri through both its origins and its growing customer base in the region.