Abbott's Frozen Custard vs Emerald City Smoothie Franchise Comparison

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

Start-Up Costs and Fees
 
Abbott's Frozen Custard Franchise
Emerald City Smoothie Franchise
Investment $332,254 - $571,634$75,250 - $286,900
Franchise Fee $37,000$15,000 - $25,000
Royalty Fee 5.5%6%
Advertising Fee 0.19Cents/Gal.2%
Year Founded 19022005
Year Franchised 19772005
Term Of Agreement 10 years-
Term Of Agreement 10 years-
Renewal Fee --


Business Experience Requirements
 
Abbott's Frozen Custard Franchise
Emerald City Smoothie Franchise
Experience --

Financing Options
 
Abbott's Frozen Custard Franchise
Emerald City Smoothie Franchise
  In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
Franchise Fees No/No-/-
Start-up Costs No/No-/-
Equipment No/No-/-
Inventory No/No-/-
Receivables No/No-/-
Payroll No/No-/-

Training & Support
 
Abbott's Frozen Custard Franchise
Emerald City Smoothie Franchise
Training 3 days at Scoop School and 10 days of on-site training at your location, where we teach you everything you need to know to operate and manage an Abbott's Frozen Custard store.-
Support Grand opening, Internet, Field operations/evaluations, Purchasing cooperatives* Use of the Emerald City Smoothie brand and all existing and new marketing materials * Assistance with real estate brokers, site selection, lease negotiation and construction based on best practices learned from over 30 store openings * A turn-key system that includes all architectural design, equipment, shelving, graphics, and signage at a reasonable cost * Extensive ECS Experience training for you and one staff member on drink making, developing a customer community, business management and marketing * Grand opening planning and support * "It's my store" customer involvement program * Peer-to-peer problem and solution sharing with other franchise owners * New drink introductions based on successful pilot programs at other franchises * Web presence for easy store location and product and service pre-selection * Periodic, high-return marketing strategies for pilot testing and implementation * Greater buying power for smoothie and health products as a member of our buying cooperative * Periodic visits to assist with general operations, employee training and to help you fine-tune the ECS experience * Analysis of store sales and performance versus system- wide benchmarks
Marketing Co-op advertising, Ad slicks-
Operations

Number of employees needed to run franchised unit: 4 - 6

Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed. (80% of current franchisees are owner/operators)

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Expansion Plans
 
Abbott's Frozen Custard Franchise
Emerald City Smoothie Franchise
US Expansion --
Canada Expansion No-
International Expansion Yes-

Company Overviews

About Abbott's Frozen Custard

Abbott's Frozen Custard has stood for quality for over 100 years in Upstate New York. Back in the 1920s, people started treating themselves to Abbott's Frozen Custard down at Charlotte Beach on Lake Ontario. Today, the company has grown with franchises spreading out in Rochester, Syracuse and New York's Finger Lakes region. No matter where our stores are located, success has come about because our driving principle is to make the best frozen custard on earth .

The total investment necessary to begin operation of an Abbott’s Frozen Custard franchise is between $332,254 and $571,634. This includes an initial franchise fee of $37,000, and other initial fees of $138,354 to $156,801 that must be paid to the franchisor or affiliates for your first Abbott’s Store.
If you choose to enter into a Development Agreement, you must open a minimum of three stores. The total investment necessary under the Development Agreement is between $996,762 to $1,714,902. This includes $111,000 and other initial fees of $415,062 to $470,403 that must be paid to the franchisor or affiliates to open three stores.

About Emerald City Smoothie

If you are looking for a significant franchise opportunity with a low cost of entry and a high upside potential, you may be a great candidate to be an Emerald City Smoothie franchise owner. We've also built our uniqueness beyond the product. We build customer loyalty everyday through: * A personal service philosophy that turns our employees into part of our customer's fitness-support team, which keeps customers coming back, according to the Parker LePla Emerald City Smoothie Customer Study * Supplements for any health goal from weight loss to bulking up * Smoothie recipes that won the "best of" smoothie category in a Seattle poll, featuring a unique blending process that creates a smooth, refreshing, but never-watery, taste * Branding and design that helps draw customers into your stores and makes selection of high-margin add-on products easy. Click here for a virtual tour of one of our world-class locations. * Marketing, training, site selection, and quality control services. Emerald City Smoothie also features all the benefits of franchising including our formula for operating to help avoid many mistakes commonly made by new business owners. Today, one out of every seven dollars spent by Americans for retail goods and services is spent in a franchised or independent product distribution business (source: IFA Franchise Opportunity Guide, p. 31, Fall/Winter 2004). Franchising generates an estimated $1.5 trillion in the U.S. economy annually (source: www.franchise.org/opportunities). The combination of the franchisor's expertise and your hard work create the potential for a strong business. With a franchise, you are in business for yourself, not by yourself!