Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening an Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store franchise takes $408,400 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $40,000. 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.
Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $40,000 | $40,000 | $40,000 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $408,400 | $408,400 | $408,400 | |
| 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) | $408,400 | $408,400 | $408,400 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store'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 | 10 years |
How Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store's disclosed cost sits against the Food & Beverage category:
- Minimum startup cost of $408,400 — about 1.4× the Food & Beverage median of $282,500.
- Initial franchise fee of $40,000 — 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 Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2017: began the window at 5 units; 0 units opened, 3 closed, ending at 1 units.
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store 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 Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store 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 Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store 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 Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store 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 Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store 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 Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store franchise
Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store is a food & beverage franchisor with 1 unit at the end of 2017 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2017, it began the window at 5 units; its filings record 0 unit openings and 3 closures, ending at 1 units. Its parent company is TOGI Brands, LLC.
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
The franchise is to operate either: an ice cream and dairy retail store under the name “Oberweis® Ice Cream and Dairy Store” which offers packaged super premium ice cream, milk, desserts, limited lines of other packaged food products, and other related goods and services to carry-out and eat-in customers in a distinctive environment, a restaurant under the name “That Burger Joint®” which offers a limited menu of premium hamburgers, side dishes, and other related goods and services to carry-out and eat-in customers in a distinctive environment, or a pizzeria under the name “Woodgrain® Neapolitan Pizzeria” which offers a limited menu of premium pizzas, salads, and other related goods and services to carry-out and eat-in customers in a distinctive environment. In many cases, the franchise will cover 2 or all 3 of these restaurant brands side-by-side in a single retail space.
Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store franchise: quick answers
- How much does an Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store franchise cost?
- $408,400 all-in to open, per Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store units are there?
- 1 unit at the end of 2017 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy Store's units held up?
- 50% 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).