TcbyFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A TCBY franchise requires a total initial investment of $135K – $699K, including a $35K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $429K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 22.8% charge-off rate across 211 loans[1]. Verdict grade: F. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $135K – $699K
- 15th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $429K
- 5th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 44th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 125
- 76th pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 22.8%
- 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
22.8% of SBA loans charged off across 211 loans, above the 16% franchise average.
Franchising since 2000. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Franchised units fell from 172 to 125 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
Bottom line
- Total investment $135K – $699K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $429K/year (median $397K).
- Verdict F (Bottom Quintile) with a risk score of 93/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 22.8% across 211 loans (well above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- System contracting at -25.6% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- TCBY Systems, LLC
- Parent company
- TCBY Franchising Holdco, LLC
- Ultimate parent
- Famous Brands International Holdings, LLC
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 1717 S. 4800 W., Salt Lake City, Utah 84104
- Auditor
- GBQ Partners LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.1M
- Most recent fiscal year
Overview
About
TCBY franchisees operate frozen yogurt retail shops, managing daily operations including product preparation, customer service, point-of-sale transactions, inventory management, and staff supervision. Franchisees handle local marketing, staffing, and facility maintenance while adhering to brand standards and paying 6% of gross revenues in royalties.
- CEO
- James Carnrite
- Headquarters
- UT
- Founded
- 2000
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 30
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 17 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $35K | $35K | |
| Travel and living expenses while training | $2K | $3K | |
| Real estate lease | — | — | |
| Equipment | $238K | $279K | |
| Equipment (Kiosk) | $41K | $102K | |
| Improvements | $180K | $322K | |
| Improvements (Kiosk) | $21K | $88K | |
| Opening Product and Soft Goods Inventory | $2K | $10K | |
| Opening Product and Soft Goods Inventory (Kiosk) | $5K | $10K | |
| Grand opening promotion (new store) | $10K | $10K | |
| Local Store Marketing | $2K | $2K | |
| Deposits and other prepaid expenses | $4K | $5K | |
| Professional fees | $3K | $10K | |
| Insurance (3 months) | $3K | $4K | |
| Computer hardware and software | $2K | $8K | |
| Computer hardware and software (Kiosk) | $2K | $5K | |
| Additional funds (3 months) | $8K | $12K | |
| Total initial investment | $557K | $904K |
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
$56K
13.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
13%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
7.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $135K – $699K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $8K – $12K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K – $35K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $100 |
| Training fee | $500 |
| Transfer fee | $18K |
| Renewal fee | $7K |
| Inventory (initial) | $2K – $10K |
| Total fee load | 9.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $429K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $397K
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 75 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $97K→$1.4M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $169K→$766K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Tcby Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 125
- Opened
- 3
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 23
- Turnover rate
- 18.4%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- -13.8%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -25.6%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 3
- Closed (3yr)
- 23
- Transfers (3yr)
- 4
- Projected new
- 7
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Transfer rate
- 3.2%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Ceased ops
- 17.6%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 28 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.
A system losing more than 10% of its units year-over-year is a red flag. Check whether closures are concentrated in specific regions.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 211
- Loan volume
- $31.6M
- Median loan
- $114K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 22.8%
- 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)
- 77.2%
- 5-yr charge-off
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 90
- Defaults
- 47
Vintage analysis
Tcby charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Tcby's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 27-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
A 22.8% charge-off rate means roughly 1 in 4 franchisees failed to repay their SBA loan. Investigate what changed.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
TCBY is a contracting frozen yogurt franchise with negative unit growth, undisclosed profitability, unprotected territories, and potential going concern issues—presenting high operational and financial risk.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $50,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · GBQ Partners LLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 93 / 100 rating
- 01MEDSevere unit decline of 13.8% YoY (125 units) indicates contracting system and potential brand viability concerns
- 02HIGHNo going concern statement is FALSE, suggesting franchisor may have disclosed going concern warnings in FDD Item 5
- 03MEDNet income not disclosed prevents ROI analysis; with $429k avg revenue and 6% royalty, franchisees may struggle to achieve profitability
- 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk—multiple franchisees could operate in same market
- 05MINORWide investment range ($135k-$699k) suggests inconsistent unit economics and unclear startup costs
- 06MINORItem 19 (Financial Performance) appears absent, limiting ability to validate earnings claims
- 07MINORDeclining unit base suggests franchisees are exiting faster than entering—red flag for satisfaction and 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 |
| Protected territory | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 2 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 4 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Wilmington, Delaware |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Delaware |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 24 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 17 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- joint
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
120 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
TCBY · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a TCBY franchise?
The total investment to open a TCBY franchise ranges from $135K – $699K, 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 TCBY franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the TCBY FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $429K. The median is $397K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is TCBY's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, TCBY has a charge-off rate of 22.8% across 211 loans, meaning 22.8% 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 TCBY franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, TCBY has 125 total units in the United States, including 172 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 3 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is TCBY a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates TCBY as a F-grade franchise with a risk score of 93 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
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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.