Rita’s Ice-Custard-HappinessFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS franchise requires a total initial investment of $315K – $916K, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.5% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $376K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 5.2% charge-off rate across 155 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $315K – $916K
- 62nd pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $376K
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.5%
- 79th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 578
- 90th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 5.2%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
At 0.6x revenue per dollar invested, this system underperforms the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Bottom line
- Total investment $315K – $916K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $376K/year (median $342K).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 33/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 5.2% across 155 loans (near or below the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- Bankruptcy history disclosed in the FDD. Review Item 4 for details before proceeding.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- RITA’S FRANCHISE COMPANY, LLC
- Parent company
- RWIFC Holdings, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- Maple Park Capital
- Predecessor
- Entity
- Prior franchisor entity
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 1210 NORTHBROOK DRIVE, SUITE 310, TREVOSE, PA 19053
- Auditor
- RSM US LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $51.2M
- vs $53.4M prior year
Affiliated brands
- RGCC
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Franchisees operate ice cream and custard retail locations, managing daily customer service, product preparation, inventory management, and staffing. Revenue comes from in-store and potentially online sales of frozen desserts with a 6.5% royalty obligation on gross sales regardless of profitability.
- CEO
- Linda L. Chadwick
- Headquarters
- PA
- Founded
- 2016
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 30
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing · 47 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $35K | $35K | |
| Lease Deposit (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $0 | $13K | |
| Leasehold Improvements (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $125K | $360K | |
| Equipment (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $105K | $168K | |
| Permits & Licenses (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $1K | $18K | |
| Signage (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $6K | $26K | |
| Insurance (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $200 | $4K | |
| Initial Order (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $8K | $18K | |
| Minimum New Shop Marketing Expenditure (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $12K | $12K | |
| Training (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $50 | $5K | |
| Architect and Attorney Fees (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $4K | $25K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 months (Standard Shop without Drive-Thru) | $20K | $30K | |
| Initial Franchise Fee (Standard Shop with Drive-Thru) | $35K | $35K | |
| Lease Deposit (Standard Shop with Drive-Thru) | $0 | $13K | |
| Leasehold Improvements (Standard Shop with Drive-Thru) | $212K | $400K | |
| Equipment (Standard Shop with Drive-Thru) | $124K | $230K | |
| Permits & Licenses (Standard Shop with Drive-Thru) | $3K | $10K | |
| Signage (Standard Shop with Drive-Thru) | $19K | $99K | |
| Insurance (Standard Shop with Drive-Thru) | $200 | $4K | |
| Initial Order (Standard Shop with Drive-Thru) | $8K | $18K | |
| Total initial investment | $1.1M | $2.5M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$47K
12.5% margin
Unlevered ROIC
7%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
13.6 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $315K – $916K
- Near category avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $20K – $30K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $15K – $35K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.5%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.5% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $150 |
| Transfer fee | $18K |
| Renewal fee | $18K |
| Inventory (initial) | $4K – $18K |
| Total fee load | 9.5% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $376K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $342K
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 530 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $30K→$1.4M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $220K→$558K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 6 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.6x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Rita’s Ice-Custard-Happiness Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 578
- Opened
- 22
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 11
- Turnover rate
- 1.9%
- Company-owned
- 9
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 98%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +0.9%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +4.2%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 46
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 21 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 155
- Loan volume
- $45.6M
- Median loan
- $251K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 5.2%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 89.7%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 57
- Defaults
- 8
Vintage analysis
Rita’s Ice-Custard-Happiness charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Rita's presents HIGH RISK due to going concern issues, active fraud litigation, declining unit count, and missing financial disclosures that prevent proper ROI evaluation.
Litigation (Item 3)
13 case reference(s): 1 pending, 6 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Disclosed in last 7 years
Bankruptcy Code; (b) obtained a discharge of its debts under the bankruptcy code; or (c) was a principal officer of a company or a general partner in a partnership that either filed as a debtor (or had filed against it) a petition to start an action under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or that obtained a
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · RSM US LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 33 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, indicating potential financial instability at corporate level
- 02MEDNet Income not disclosed in Item 19, preventing ROI analysis on $315k-$915k investment
- 03MINORSystem contracting at 0.9% YoY with only 578 units suggests declining franchise appeal
- 04HIGHActive litigation including TCPA class action and California Franchise Law fraud allegations demonstrates legal exposure
- 05HIGHMulti-plaintiff lawsuit alleging constructive fraud and franchise law violations suggests systemic franchisee disputes
- 06MEDHigh investment range ($600k spread) with undisclosed profitability creates opacity around unit economics
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 5 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Pennsylvania |
| Litigation count | 2 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
13 case reference(s): 1 pending, 6 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 10 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 90 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Site selection
- franchisor
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Clover/Bypass POS system
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Clover/Bypass POS system
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
100 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS franchise?
The total investment to open a RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS franchise ranges from $315K – $916K, with an initial franchise fee of $35K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $376K. The median is $342K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS has a charge-off rate of 5.2% across 155 loans, meaning 5.2% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS has 578 total units in the United States, including 546 franchised units and 9 company-owned units. 22 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 33 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Claim this brandOther Quick-Service Restaurants franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Quick-Service Restaurants category
Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.