Rita’s Ice-Custard-Happiness Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Rita's Italian Ice is a dessert franchise serving frozen Italian ice, frozen custard, and their layered Gelati. Franchisees run seasonal shops and storefronts managing product prep, service, and staffing, with sales driven by warm weather.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS franchise requires a total initial investment of $315K – $713K, including a $15K – $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]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $315K – $713K
- 52nd pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $376K
- 1st pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.5%
- 84th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 578
- 90th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- 5.2%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $315K – $713K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.5% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $376K/year (median $342K).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 74/100 (higher is better). 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, 2010–2025).
- FLAGBankruptcy history disclosed in the FDD. Review Item 4 for details before proceeding.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Rita's Franchise Company, LLC
- Parent company
- RWIFC Holdings, LLC
- Predecessor
- Rita's Water Ice Franchise Company, LLC
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President & CEO
- Linda Chadwick
- Incorporated in
- Delaware
- 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
- CEO
- Linda Chadwick
- Headquarters
- PA
- Founded
- 2016
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 30
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 22% below the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown47 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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $315K – $713K
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $20K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $15K – $35K
- Middle of category 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 |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 69% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
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
9%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
11.5 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
9%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$413K
on $2.1M purchase
Total debt
$1.7M
SBA $1.0M + senior + seller note
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $376K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $342K
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 503
- vs category median 20 · large
- Quartile band
- $220K→$558K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 782 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.7x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $376K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.7x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 9.5% — above the Quick-Service Restaurants average of 7.9%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 6/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System roughly stable (+4.2% 3-year CAGR) with 578 units.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Rita’s Ice-Custard-Happiness Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
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 (3-yr)
- +4.2%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 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)
- 94.8%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 57
- Defaults
- 8
- Typical loan rate
- 7.8%
- avg rate to borrowers
- vs industry
- N/A
- NAICS 7225
- Jobs supported
- 2,257
- 4.9 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 16%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 0% went to startups / new businesses, 100% to established operators
Vintage analysis
Rita’s Ice-Custard-Happiness charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Rita’s Ice-Custard-Happiness franchisees
Showing 3 of 57 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 5.2% — 68% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Large 578-unit frozen-dessert system with two litigation matters (a $3M TCPA class settlement 2016 by predecessor and a franchisee suit settled 2024) — a normal count relative to system size. Financials very strong: net worth $50.7M, revenue $51.4M, net income $2.78M, audited with Item 19.
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 74 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORTwo settled matters, low relative to 578-unit system size
- 02MINORVery strong financials: net worth $50.7M, revenue $51.4M
- 03MINORPositive growth +4.2%, audited, Item 19 present
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 9.5% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 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 – $713K, 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 Item 19 in the RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
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 569 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 verdict score of 74 out of 100 (higher is better), 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.
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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.