Bruster's Real Ice Cream franchise
A Bruster's Real Ice Cream franchisee runs an ice cream shop that makes its ice cream on site. At the end of 2025 there were 220 Bruster's Real Ice Cream locations in the US, 219 franchised and 1 company-owned.
- Cost to open
- $1.22M–$2.67M
- Franchise fee
- $40,000
- Royalty
- 5%
- Locations, 2025
- 220+33 in 3 yrs
Compare with similar brands Estimate your costs
Company snapshot
- SBA loans
- On the SBA Franchise Directory
From Bruster's Limited Partnership’s 2026 filing; SBA status from the SBA Franchise Directory, October 28, 2026.
How much a Bruster's Real Ice Cream franchise costs
Opening a free-standing Bruster's store where you buy the real estate (an end-cap store you lease starts at $414,900) costs an estimated $1,215,120 to $2,669,060. That covers the franchise fee and everything else needed to open, through the first months of working capital.
Source: Bruster's Limited Partnership, 2026 filing, page 18
Bruster's Real Ice Cream franchise fee
The franchise fee is $40,000, for a first store; $20,000 for additional stores and for veterans. You pay it when you sign the franchise agreement.
Source: Bruster's Limited Partnership, 2026 filing, page 11
Royalty and ongoing fees
| Royalty | 5% of gross sales. |
|---|---|
| Brand or marketing fund | A marketing fund contribution of 3% of gross sales. |
The typical franchise royalty is 6% of sales, plus 2% for marketing. See franchise fees and royalties to compare.
Source: Bruster's Limited Partnership, 2026 filing, page 12
Sales and earnings
Shares figures Bruster's Real Ice Cream publishes sales or earnings figures for its locations: it reports average unit volumes for franchised stores open on a standard seven-day schedule, in top, middle and bottom ranges ($1,054,338, $661,116 and $431,591). The full tables, with notes on which locations are counted, are in its filing.
Source: Bruster's Limited Partnership, 2026 filing, page 56
Locations opened and closed
| Year | Franchised | Company-owned | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 193 (+7) | 1 | 5 |
| 2024 | 205 (+12) | 1 | 5 |
| 2025 | 219 (+14) | 1 | 4 |
Closed or left counts terminations, non-renewals, locations bought back by the franchisor and locations that stopped operating.
See which brands grew most in the fastest-growing franchises rankings.
Bruster's Real Ice Cream passes all five tests on our list of the best franchises to own and ranks number 60.
Source: Bruster's Limited Partnership, 2026 filing, page 60
How Bruster's Real Ice Cream compares
Of the 18 ice cream franchises on this site, Bruster's Real Ice Cream is the 17th cheapest to open and the 9th largest by number of locations.
| Measure | Bruster's Real Ice Cream | Typical ice cream |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, low end | $1.22M | $350K |
| Royalty | 5% | 6% |
| Closed or left per year | 2.4% | 2.8% |
| Change in franchised locations, 3 yrs | +17.7% | +15.9% |
| Shares earnings figures | Yes | 15 of 18 |
Typical is the median across the 18 brands in ice cream franchises.
