What you get for your startup costs
Rita’s initial investment is more affordable than most restaurant franchises, and the value is excellent when you consider what you’re really getting
Food franchises are sometimes seen as an expensive proposition, but it depends entirely on the scope of the operation and the brand itself. Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard is a stable brand with a long history that offers a lot of the advantages of a traditional restaurant franchise without the higher buy-in, and you can also count on getting a lot of value out of Rita’s initial investment costs. Our typical startup costs range from $175,500-$435,000 for a standard shop.
The most obvious advantage, of course, is our simplicity of operations. Rita’s serves Italian ices in a large variety of flavors as well as a smaller menu of frozen custard. Both items are made in-shop, and everything on our menu is made from some combination of these two core products. There’s no cooking equipment, no chop-and-prep, no recipes or assembly-line ovens. It’s so simple, a teenager could run it — and that’s often who makes up the bulk of our shop teams!
You also get the advantage of joining a proven, established franchise system. Rita’s has long since worked out the proper capitalization you realistically need. As you are likely aware if you’ve been exploring entrepreneurship, undercapitalization poses a serious threat to many new businesses. With Rita’s, we’ve already thoroughly vetted our startup process and all its associated costs hundreds and hundreds of times — we can help you expertly navigate any challenges you face.
3 benefits included in your initial investment
Equipment and supplies. Imagine striking out on your own and trying to figure out your inventory list and your equipment needs. Suddenly there’s more risk involved in an already risky venture. But with the buying power and vendor relationships of our proven franchise system, there’s less to worry about. We’ve already figured out the best options for all your equipment and supplies. And, because most of what we sell is water and ice, you don’t have to worry about spoilage and food waste.
Training and support. Have you ever been to Cool University? Not *a* cool university; the Cool University. You will when you join Rita’s, since that’s where we send all our new franchisees to learn the tricks of the trade. They wrap up with 40 hours of hands-on experience at a certified training location so they can put in practice everything they’ve just learned. “My vision for Rita’s is to make sure we can consistently execute on an operational excellence that really wows our guests,” says Rita’s President and CEO Linda Chadwick. “We get great high marks for our Cool University and our ongoing training programs.”
Hub-and-spoke business model. If you’re looking for either a way to scale quickly or a smaller footprint to start with, we offer a Rita’s Express unit for an initial investment of just $121,100-$309,900. An Express unit is a self-contained shop with its own production area that works well in alternative locations such as parks, universities, sports arenas, convention centers, airports and more. You can also use a freestanding operation as your base from which to launch mobile units or Express units. That flexibility can help you increase your revenue streams more quickly.
Learn more
If you’d like to learn more about the franchise opportunity with Rita’s, fill out the form on this page to access our Franchise Information Center, where you can find detailed financial results, a breakdown of startup costs and in-depth Q&As with Rita’s franchisees. You can also find more information about our franchise by exploring our research pages.