Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 640867
Smoothie King franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Smoothie King cost $329,850 to $683,215 in the 2026 FDD; the median unit sold $627,210 in the franchisor's 13 months ended 2025-12-29 figures; 8.7% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Smoothie King Franchises, Inc.. FDD issued 2026-04-08, amended 2026-09-02. Fiscal year end 2025-12-29. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-03.
What a unit costs to open
Traditional location; Free-Standing Drive-Thru Location $624,950 to $1,253,900 (p.16).
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $30,000 | Item 5, p. 7 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | Operating Fee 6% of Gross Sales, monthly, subject to a $500 monthly minimum | Item 6, p. 10 |
| Advertising fund | National Marketing Fee 3% of Gross Sales (may rise to 5%), plus a regional fund up to 2% or a 2% local spend | Item 6, p. 10 |
Traditional Store; $15,000 Non-Traditional; $25,000 for additional units by qualified existing franchisees; 20% veteran discount.
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.
| Measure | Net Sales, 13-month period ended 2025-12-29 (Table 19-1, total/all column) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | 1,087 units: franchised US units open the consecutive 13 months ended 2025-12-29 (1,116 franchised units open that long, less 29 excluded for not operating daily, temporary closure over 8 weeks, or not using the required POS); top/bottom 10%, 25%, 50% and 75% segments also given; 33 units that closed in the period excluded | |
| Period | 13 months ended 2025-12-29 | |
| High / low | $2,278,731 / $142,703 | |
Revenue to investment
Formula: Item 19 all-units median Net Sales / Item 7 traditional total (midpoint, low, high). A ratio of 1.00 means one year of median unit revenue equals the investment; it says nothing about profit.
How many units open and close
| Franchised units | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of year | 1,048 | 1,093 | 1,149 |
| Opened | 80 | 85 | 81 |
| Terminated | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Not renewed | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 27 | 24 | 30 |
| End of year | 1,093 | 1,149 | 1,200 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 59 | 52 | 42 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 61; Table 3 totals p. 65.
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.
company-owned rows derived from the Total less Franchised rows as printed.
As filed: 2024 does not sum (1,093 + 85 − 31 = 1,147, printed 1,149); 2023 and 2025 sum. Pages are PDF pages (document carries no printed page numbers in this section).
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Smoothie King Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-04-08 and amended 2026-09-02, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 640867, 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.
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.