Cookies by Design franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Cookies by Design franchise takes $117,500 – $207,000 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $30,000. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 6% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 3%. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Cookies by Design franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $30,000 | $30,000 | $30,000 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $117,500 | $207,000 | $117,500 to $207,000 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $117,500 | $207,000 | $117,500 to $207,000 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Cookies by Design's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 6% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Up to 3% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 5 years |
See the full Cookies by Design cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Cookies by Design's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Cookies by Design's disclosed cost sits against the Food & Beverage category:
- Minimum startup cost of $117,500 — about 58% below the Food & Beverage median of $282,500.
- Initial franchise fee of $30,000 — about in line with the Food & Beverage median of $35,000.
Category medians are computed from the Food & Beverage brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Food & Beverage franchises
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How Cookies by Design's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2017: began the window at 105 units; 4 units opened, 40 closed, ending at 59 units.
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Cookies by Design or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask Cookies by Design for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether Cookies by Design is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether Cookies by Design grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only Cookies by Design can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the Cookies by Design franchise
Cookies by Design is a food & beverage franchisor with 59 units at the end of 2017 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2017, it began the window at 105 units; its filings record 4 unit openings and 40 closures, ending at 59 units. Its parent company is Designed Cookies, Inc..
No franchise-related lawsuits reported in the disclosure data we hold (FDD Item 3, as of 2026-05) — an absence in our sources, not a guarantee; confirm against the brand's current FDD.
From the franchisor's materials
You will operate a retail “shop” that produces decorated cookies, gourmet cookies, fanciful cookie arrangements, and related products for retail sale to the general public.
Cookies by Design franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Cookies by Design franchise cost?
- $117,500 – $207,000 all-in to open, per Cookies by Design's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Cookies by Design units are there?
- 59 units at the end of 2017 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Cookies by Design's units held up?
- 82.3% of units at risk between 2015 and 2017 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).