Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 642123
Rita's Italian Ice franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Rita's Italian Ice cost $315,233 to $712,542 in the 2026 FDD; the franchisor's revenue disclosure has no single unit figure; 10.0% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Rita's Franchise Company, LLC. FDD issued 2026-06-10. Fiscal year end 2025-12-31. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-04.
What a unit costs to open
Standard Shop without drive-thru; with drive-thru $456,858 to $915,536, Express $199,005 to $558,504, Satellite $131,550 to $318,500, Mobile Unit $16,500 to $180,000.
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $35,000 | Item 5, p. 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | Royalty 6.5% of estimated sales on Rita's-Mix items and of Gross Sales on other menu items (yield-based) | Item 6, p. 12 |
| Advertising fund | Advertising Contribution 3% on the same base, plus a minimum local advertising spend of 2% (3% ceiling) | Item 6, p. 12 |
Standard or Express Shop; $15,000 for a Satellite and $5,000 for a Mobile Unit.
What a unit sells
Item 19 is optional and is the franchisor's own representation. It is shown here as filed, with the franchisor's measure, sample and period, and nothing is estimated where it is missing.
Item 19 present, no single unit figure. 2025 Gross Sales in three tiers of 177, 176 and 177 Shops (medians $515,160, $340,963 and $228,195) and by drive-thru (33 Shops, median $460,224) versus non-drive-thru (495 Shops, median $337,133); no all-shop figure (Item 19, p. 56, 57, 58, 59, 60).
Sample: 530 Shops (80 year-round, 450 seasonal) that operated and reported through the 2025 Season of March 1 to September 30; 45 Shops that closed or were terminated during 2025 are excluded. Period: 2025 calendar year.
Revenue to investment
Undefined: Item 19 gives sales tiers and a drive-thru split with no all-shop figure.
How many units open and close
| Franchised units | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of year | 528 | 546 | 564 |
| Opened | 33 | 30 | 22 |
| Terminated | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Not renewed | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| End of year | 546 | 564 | 569 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 1 | 5 | 9 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 62; Table 3 totals p. 66.
Closures are the franchisor's Item 20 counts of units terminated, not renewed, or ceased for other reasons, summed over 2023–2025 and divided by franchised units at the start of 2023. Units the franchisor reacquired are not closures. This is an Item 20 count, not a failure rate.
As filed: the 2025 row does not sum (564 + 22 - 10 - 4 - 2 - 12 = 558, printed 569); the row carries a footnote in the filing.
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Rita's Italian Ice Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-06-10, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 642123, registry record). The PDF is the franchisor's and is not hosted here; the item and page beside each figure is where to check it. Item 7 and Item 20 tables were read cell by cell; Item 19 was read by hand; each Item 20 year was checked to sum (start + opened − exits = end) before it was recorded.
A seasonal system: most Shops operate March through September. Item 19 splits the 530-shop sample into three sales tiers and into drive-thru and non-drive-thru groups, with no all-shop figure..
Informational only, not professional, legal or investment advice. Unitnomics computes from the filing and does not advise on, rank, or refer to any franchise. Last reviewed: November 2026.