Shake's Frozen Custard vs Icebox/Soupbox Franchise Comparison

Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Shake's Frozen Custard vs Icebox/Soupbox including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.

Start-Up Costs and Fees
 
Shake's Frozen Custard Franchise
Icebox/Soupbox Franchise
Investment $162,000 - $287,000$69,500 - $174,500
Franchise Fee $30,000$14,000 - $20,000
Royalty Fee 5%4%
Advertising Fee 3%-
Year Founded 19911995
Year Franchised 19981998
Term Of Agreement 10 years10 years
Term Of Agreement 10 years10 years
Renewal Fee 50% of initial franchise feeNegotiable


Business Experience Requirements
 
Shake's Frozen Custard Franchise
Icebox/Soupbox Franchise
Experience
  • General business experience

  • General business experience
    		•

    Financing Options
     
    Shake's Frozen Custard Franchise
    Icebox/Soupbox Franchise
      In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
    Franchise Fees No/NoNo/No
    Start-up Costs No/YesNo/No
    Equipment No/YesNo/No
    Inventory No/NoNo/No
    Receivables No/NoNo/No
    Payroll No/NoNo/No

    Training & Support
     
    Shake's Frozen Custard Franchise
    Icebox/Soupbox Franchise
    Training As necessary-
    Support Newsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Grand opening, Internet, Security/safety procedures, Field operations/evaluationsNewsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Grand opening, Internet, Security/safety procedures, Field operations/evaluations, Purchasing cooperatives
    Marketing Co-op advertising, Ad slicksCo-op advertising, Ad slicks, Regional advertising
    Operations 25% of all franchisees own more than one unit

    Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 20

    Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed. (75% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

    		 0% of all franchisees own more than one unit

    Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 10

    Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed. (100% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

    Expansion Plans
     
    Shake's Frozen Custard Franchise
    Icebox/Soupbox Franchise
    US Expansion Yes-
    Canada Expansion NoNo
    International Expansion NoYes

    Company Overviews

    About Shake's Frozen Custard

    Shake's Frozen Custard was established on three principles: Quality, Service, and Cleanliness. Today, these simple principles serve as the foundation from which Shake's, the Brand, continues to evolve. Our uncompromising dedication to the highest level of quality standards and our deep passion for service are, and will forever remain, the heart and soul of Shake's Frozen Custard. At Shake's Frozen Custard, we have an unrelenting focus on the future but we build our dreams on experience. Don and Debbie Osborne, founders of Shake's Frozen Custard, take great pride in having created a friendly, family oriented business. We realize that business success is fueled by individual customer experiences. Shake's Frozen Custard has an incredible ability to knock down the barriers of time and space in transporting us to those moments in our memory in which we experienced excitement, contentment, satisfaction, fun or any number of the seemingly infinite descriptors of human emotion. Shake's Frozen Custard offers the highest quality, premium ice cream today with the fast, friendly "service with a smile" of days gone by.Shake's Frozen Custard is a vibrant, one of a kind experience driven by a variety of interactive zones and viewing stations all leading to the presentation of the "World's best frozen dessert!" Shake's is much, much more than a simple restaurant. Shake's is a multi-sensory experience in which friends, families and loved ones build long lasting memories of quality, fun, and excitement. Every component of the facility generates a symphonic atmosphere that lends itself to the creation of wholesome, multi-generational, electrifying experiences. Customers of all ages enjoy reliving memories of "homemade" ice cream outings of days gone by with those special people in their lives.
    Shake's Frozen Custard provides our customers with a timeless and exciting experience - creating Memories of pure, powerful joy through a steadfast commitment to uncompromising quality, service, and cleanliness.

    About Icebox/Soupbox

    Before opening his first store, Jamie Taerbaum stood outside a Baskin-Robbins store to figure out how many customers an ice cream store could expect at different times of day, on different days of the week, and in different weather conditions. Armed with this research, the young business school graduate opened the original Icebox/Soupbox store in 1995 in Chicago.

    In the spring and summer, Icebox operates as a retailer of Icyfruit, a mixture of fruit juice, sugar, water and chunks of fruit that comes in 20 flavors. Throughout the fall and winter, it becomes a Soupbox store, offering a wide variety of soups.