Highlights
- Every week, 9.5% of gross sales goes to the franchisor before rent, food or labor: royalty 6.5% of estimated sales on Rita's-Mix Items and/or 6.5% of Gross Sales on Menu Items that are Non-Mix Items or Non-Mix Items charged as an additional fee, advertising 3.0% of estimated sales on Rita's-Mix Items and 3.0% of Gross Sales on Menu Items that are Non-Mix Items or Non-Mix Items charged as an additional fee.p.19
- Opening one unit is estimated at $315,233 to $712,542, including a $35,000 initial fee.p.25
- Rita's discloses unit performance in Item 19.p.63
- The system went from 528 outlets at the start of 2023 to 578 at the end of 2025, a net gain of 50.p.69
Tools, from this filing's numbers
What Rita's takes off the top
Royalty 6.5% of estimated sales on Rita's-Mix Items and/or 6.5% of Gross Sales on Menu Items that are Non-Mix Items or Non-Mix Items charged as an additional fee plus advertising 3.0% of estimated sales on Rita's-Mix Items and 3.0% of Gross Sales on Menu Items that are Non-Mix Items or Non-Mix Items charged as an additional fee, applied to your own sales estimate. The rates are the filing's; the sales are yours.
Rita's discloses no unit revenue, so start from a number you believe.
Cash you would need to open
The filing's Item 7 range, $315,233 to $712,542, is an estimate for one unit including only its first months. Slide between the low and high cases and add the months of runway you want beyond that.
Monthly operating cash is taken as one-twelfth of your weekly-sales figure above times 52, a placeholder for rent, labor and food until you have your own budget.
Total outlets, 2022 to 2025
Compare Rita's with another brand
Side by side, every figure cited.
Fees (Items 5 and 6)
| Initial franchise fee, standard | $35,000 | p.17 |
| Royalty | 6.5% of estimated sales on Rita's-Mix Items and/or 6.5% of Gross Sales on Menu Items that are Non-Mix Items or Non-Mix Items charged as an additional fee | p.19 |
| Advertising fund | 3.0% of estimated sales on Rita's-Mix Items and 3.0% of Gross Sales on Menu Items that are Non-Mix Items or Non-Mix Items charged as an additional fee | p.19 |
| Technology fee | held for review |
The filing lists every recurring and conditional fee in Item 6. The report carries all of them.
Estimated initial investment (Item 7)
| Expenditure | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $35,000 | $35,000 | p.25 |
| Lease Deposit | $0 | $12,500 | p.25 |
| Leasehold Improvements | $125,000 | $359,664 | p.25 |
| Equipment | $104,744 | $168,257 | p.25 |
| Permits & Licenses | $1,239 | $17,578 | p.25 |
| Signage | $5,500 | $26,123 | p.25 |
| Insurance | $200 | $3,920 | p.25 |
| Initial Order | $8,000 | $17,500 | p.25 |
| Minimum New Shop Marketing Expenditure | $12,000 | $12,000 | p.25 |
| Training | $50 | $5,000 | p.25 |
| Architect and Attorney Fees | $3,500 | $25,000 | p.25 |
| Additional Funds (3 months) | $20,000 | $30,000 | p.25 |
| Total | $315,233 | $712,542 | p.25 |
Revenue (Item 19)
Rita's reports a financial performance figure across 530 outlets for 2025 Calendar Year.p.63 What the figure measures, which units were excluded and what it leaves out are in the report.
Units (Item 20)
| Type | Year | Start | End | Net | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| franchised | 2023 | 528 | 546 | 18 | p.69 |
| company owned | 2023 | 0 | 1 | 1 | p.69 |
| total | 2023 | 528 | 547 | 19 | p.69 |
| franchised | 2024 | 546 | 564 | 18 | p.69 |
| company owned | 2024 | 1 | 5 | 4 | p.69 |
| total | 2024 | 547 | 569 | 22 | p.69 |
| franchised | 2025 | 564 | 569 | 5 | p.69 |
| company owned | 2025 | 5 | 9 | 4 | p.69 |
| total | 2025 | 569 | 578 | 9 | p.69 |
Litigation (Item 3)
Item 3 has not been read for this filing yet, or the two readers disagreed and it is held for review.
Scorecard
Rank among the brands on this site that report the figure, on each list's own direction. No blended grade. How the lists work.
| Cost to open | $315,233 | 21 of 51 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | 9.5% | 22 of 43 |
| Three-year unit growth | 9.5% | 26 of 54 |
| Closure rate | held | held |
| Discloses unit revenue | yes | |
| Litigation disclosed | held | held |
Source
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 642123, effective 7/20/2026, expires 7/20/2027. Extracted 2026-09-03 by two independent readers; only figures both agreed on, whose quoted words appear on the cited page, are shown. 10 fields held for review. How this works.