Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 641025
Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Tropical Smoothie Cafe cost $275,500 to $770,500 in the 2026 FDD; the median unit sold $931,173 in the franchisor's 2025 calendar year figures; 4.9% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: TSC Franchisor, LLC. FDD issued 2026-04-17, amended 2026-06-10. Fiscal year end 2025-12-28. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-04.
What a unit costs to open
single Restaurant.
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $35,000 | Item 5, p. 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | Royalty Fee 6% of Gross Sales, weekly | Item 6, p. 10 |
| Advertising fund | National Marketing Fee currently 5% of Gross Sales, may be raised to 6% | Item 6, p. 10 |
first Restaurant; $25,000 for each additional Restaurant under a multi-unit agreement; fees collected in 2025 ranged from $1 to $35,000.
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 Revenue, calendar 2025, all franchised Restaurants open at least one full year (Total column) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | 1,431 units: 1,431 franchised Restaurants open at least one full year at 2025-12-28, excluding non-traditional and seasonal locations; shown by top and bottom 10%, 25%, 50% and 75%, with 2024 (1,268 Restaurants) and 2023 (1,151) tables alongside | |
| Period | 2025 calendar year | |
| High / low | $3,386,973 / $270,301 | |
Revenue to investment
Formula: Item 19 median / Item 7 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 | 1,197 | 1,371 | 1,514 |
| Opened | 180 | 162 | 170 |
| Terminated | 2 | 5 | 21 |
| Not renewed | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 3 | 14 | 12 |
| End of year | 1,371 | 1,514 | 1,650 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 60; Table 3 totals p. 67.
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.
fiscal years ending 2023-12-31, 2024-12-29 and 2025-12-28.
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-04-17 and amended 2026-06-10, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 641025, 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.