DQ Treat franchise
2025 filing · March 27, 2025
DQ Treat at a glance
A Dairy Queen treat store serving soft-serve, Blizzards and a limited menu of approved food items. At the end of 2024 there were 727 DQ Treat locations in the US, all franchised.
The business
- Franchisor
- American Dairy Queen Corporation
- The company that sells the franchises
What you pay
- Cost to open
- $549K–$1.6M
- Fee, build-out and opening working capital
- Franchise fee
- $25,000
- Paid once, when you sign
- Royalty
- 5%
- 5% of gross sales, paid monthly
- Agreement length
- 15 years
Where it is
- US locations, 2024
- 727
- Franchised and company-owned
- Franchised
- 727
- Company-owned
- 0
- States
- 42
- Most in Michigan, Minnesota and Indiana
Support and records
From American Dairy Queen Corporation’s 2025 filing; revenue and net income from the guarantor’s audited financial statements, page 362; SBA status from the SBA Franchise Directory, October 28, 2026.
Guarantor figures are for International Dairy Queen, Inc, the parent company that guarantees the franchisor’s obligations to owners. They cover everything that company and its subsidiaries earn, not what a location makes.
Where it ranks
DQ Treat among all franchises with the same figure.
| Figure | DQ Treat | Among all franchises |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, midpointHalfway between the low and high estimate | $1,076,900 | Costs more than 85% of franchises |
| Franchise feePaid once, when you sign | $25,000 | Lower than 82% of franchises |
| RoyaltyShare of sales paid to the franchisor | 5% | Lower than 69% of brands with a set rate |
| US locationsFranchised and company-owned | 727 | More than 96% of franchises |
How much a DQ Treat franchise costs
Opening one DQ Treat costs an estimated $549,100 to $1,604,700. That covers the franchise fee and everything else needed to open, through the first months of working capital.
Source: American Dairy Queen Corporation, 2025 filing, page 1
DQ Treat franchise fee
The franchise fee is $25,000. You pay it when you sign the franchise agreement.
Source: American Dairy Queen Corporation, 2025 filing, page 19
Royalty and ongoing fees
| Royalty | 5% of gross sales, paid monthly. |
|---|---|
| Transfer Fee (for franchise agreement) | $6,000 |
The typical franchise royalty is 6% of sales, plus 2% for marketing. See franchise fees and royalties to compare.
Source: American Dairy Queen Corporation, 2025 filing, page 20
Other fees as filed, from page 21. The filing lists every fee, including late fees and audit costs.
Sales and earnings
No figures DQ Treat does not share sales or profit figures for its locations. Talking to current and former franchise owners is the usual way to learn what a location earns.
Source: American Dairy Queen Corporation, 2025 filing, page 57
- Estimate Estimated yearly sales per location
- $900K–$1.6M
Estimated from the sales that 292 comparable franchises file, matched on industry, format, cost to open, fees and size.
SBA loans to DQ Treat franchisees
Lenders approved 29 SBA-backed loans for DQ Treat franchisees from 2018 to 2026, $17.6M in all: 26 7(a) loans and 3 504 loans. All 8 that have ended were paid in full; none was charged off. The other 21 haven’t ended yet.
A charged-off loan is one written off as uncollectible. See SBA franchise loans for how 7(a) and 504 loans work.
Source: SBA 7(a) and 504 loan data, as of September 30, 2026
How DQ Treat compares
Of the 101 ice cream franchises on this site, DQ Treat is the 91st cheapest to open and the 6th largest by number of locations.
| Figure | DQ Treat | Typical ice cream brand | Typical franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to open, low end | $549K | $285K | $222K |
| Cost to open, high end | $1.6M | $597K | $477K |
| Franchise fee | $25K | $35K | $40K |
| Royalty | 5% | 6% | 6% |
| US locations | 727 | 18 | 21 |
| Change in franchised locations, 0 yrs | −12.2% | +12.5% | – |
| Shares earnings figures | No | 76 of 101 | 2,147 of 3,352 |
Typical is the median across the 101 brands in ice cream franchises; typical franchise, across every brand here.
Locations opened and closed
| Year | Franchised | Company-owned |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 828 (−30) | 0 |
| 2022 | 789 (−39) | 0 |
| 2023 | 751 (−38) | 0 |
| 2024 | 727 (−24) | 0 |
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.
More in the guides: ice cream franchise costs and franchise failure rates.
Over 4 years, from the start of 2021 to the end of 2024, franchised locations went from 858 to 727 (−131, −15%). The earlier years come from the brand's 2024 filing.
Source: American Dairy Queen Corporation, 2025 filing, page 57
2021: American Dairy Queen Corporation, 2024 filing, page 61
Where DQ Treat locations are
At the end of 2024, DQ Treat had franchised locations in 42 states. The most are in Michigan, Minnesota and Indiana.
- Michigan104
- Minnesota61
- Indiana43
- Colorado42
- Ohio41
- Florida37
| State | Franchised |
|---|---|
| Michigan | 104 |
| Minnesota | 61 |
| Indiana | 43 |
| Colorado | 42 |
| Ohio | 41 |
| Florida | 37 |
| North Carolina | 36 |
| Illinois | 35 |
| Pennsylvania | 34 |
| Wisconsin | 33 |
All 42 states
Source: American Dairy Queen Corporation, 2025 filing, page 59
Who owns DQ Treat?
DQ Treat franchises are sold by American Dairy Queen Corporation.
From American Dairy Queen Corporation’s 2025 filing.
Lawsuits and bankruptcy
| Lawsuits and regulatory actions | Yes. The filing describes past or pending cases involving the franchisor, its affiliates or its executives on pages 16–19. |
|---|---|
| Bankruptcy | None. The filing says no bankruptcy has to be disclosed. |
Franchisors must disclose lawsuits and bankruptcies involving the company, its parents and affiliates, and its executives. Many cases are routine disputes with franchisees over fees or contracts; read the descriptions in the filing and ask current owners about anything that worries you.
Source: American Dairy Queen Corporation, 2025 filing, litigation on pages 16–19, bankruptcy on page 19
DQ Treat filings
A franchisor files a new disclosure each year it sells franchises. The figures on this page come from American Dairy Queen Corporation’s 2025 filing, issued March 27, 2025; the earlier ones below are on record with the Minnesota Department of Commerce and fill in older location counts.
| Filing | Issued | Registry | On this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 filing | March 27, 2025 | Minnesota | Costs, fees and locations, 2022–2024 |
| 2024 filing | – | Minnesota | Locations, 2021 |
Each link opens the filing as a PDF. See the newest filings across all brands.
Other ice cream franchises
All ice cream franchises
DQ Treat is also on these lists: fast food franchises, food franchises.