DQ Treat franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a DQ Treat franchise takes $549,100 – $1,604,700 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $25,200. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated. The ledger below itemizes every figure we can source for DQ Treat, each one dated, so you can check the numbers before anyone gets your contact details.
DQ Treat franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $25,200 | $25,200 | $25,200 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $549,100 | $1,604,700 | $549,100 to $1,604,700 | |
| 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) | $549,100 | $1,604,700 | $549,100 to $1,604,700 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means DQ Treat's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | Not disclosed |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Not disclosed |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | Not disclosed |
See the full DQ Treat cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How DQ Treat's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where DQ Treat's disclosed cost sits against the Food & Beverage category:
- Minimum startup cost of $549,100 — about 1.9× the Food & Beverage median of $282,500.
- Initial franchise fee of $25,200 — about 28% below 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 DQ Treat's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2022: began the window at 1,633 units; 239 units opened, 532 closed, ending at 789 units. (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only.)
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for DQ Treat 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 DQ Treat 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 DQ Treat 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 DQ Treat 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 DQ Treat 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 DQ Treat franchise
DQ Treat is a food & beverage franchisor with 789 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2022, it began the window at 1,633 units; its filings record 239 unit openings and 532 closures, ending at 789 units (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only). Its parent company is American Dairy Queen Corporation.
Disclosure filings report 9 franchise-related lawsuits. Review Item 3 of the FDD. (as of 2026-05)
From the franchisor's materials
American Dairy Queen Corporation offers single unit and multiple unit franchises for the operation of DQ® Treat stores at authorized locations. A DQ® Treat store is a retail quick service food establishment from which you will sell trademarked Dairy Queen® soft-serve, treat products, and beverage menu items, and a limited number of approved food items.
DQ Treat franchise: quick answers
- How much does a DQ Treat franchise cost?
- $549,100 – $1,604,700 all-in to open, per DQ Treat's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many DQ Treat units are there?
- 789 units at the end of 2022 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have DQ Treat's units held up?
- 91.6% of units at risk between 2020 and 2022 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).