Rita’s Ice-Custard-Happiness
Bottom line
- Total investment $315K – $916K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $376K/year (median $342K).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 259 loans (below the industry average).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
5%
Below typical band (30–60%)
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
$113K
on $564K purchase
Total debt
$451K
SBA $0.3M + senior + seller note
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.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
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 phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
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.
Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 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
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
RITA’S ICE-CUSTARD-HAPPINESS · FDD (2026) PDF