Bruster's Real Ice Cream vs Icebox/Soupbox Franchise Comparison

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

Start-Up Costs and Fees
 
Bruster's Real Ice Cream Franchise
Icebox/Soupbox Franchise
Investment $229,200 - $1,315,000$69,500 - $174,500
Franchise Fee $35,000$14,000 - $20,000
Royalty Fee 5%4%
Advertising Fee 3%-
Year Founded 19891995
Year Franchised 19931998
Term Of Agreement 10 years10 years
Term Of Agreement 10 years10 years
Renewal Fee -Negotiable


Business Experience Requirements
 
Bruster's Real Ice Cream Franchise
Icebox/Soupbox Franchise
Experience *20% CAPITAL IN THE PROJECT. *DEDICATION TO EITHER OPERATING OR OVERSEEING *A MANAGER THAT WORKS APPROPRIATE RETAIL HOURS CULTIVATING AND MOTIVATING YOUTH. *INVOLVEMENT IN THE COMMUNITY
  • General business experience
    		•

    Financing Options
     
    Bruster's Real Ice Cream Franchise
    Icebox/Soupbox Franchise
      In-House/3rd PartyIn-House/3rd Party
    Franchise Fees No/YesNo/No
    Start-up Costs No/YesNo/No
    Equipment No/YesNo/No
    Inventory No/YesNo/No
    Receivables No/YesNo/No
    Payroll No/YesNo/No

    Training & Support
     
    Bruster's Real Ice Cream Franchise
    Icebox/Soupbox Franchise
    Training On-The-Job Training: 68 hours Classroom Training: 12 hours -
    Support *Real Estate Review and approval *Project Management *Marketing program and materials *procurement of products for operation *operations manager to support in your opening and ongoing consultations at your storePurchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings/Conventions Toll-Free Line Grand Opening Online Support Security/Safety Procedures Field Operations Site Selection Proprietary Software Franchisee Intranet Platform Newsletter, Meetings, Toll-free phone line, Grand opening, Internet, Security/safety procedures, Field operations/evaluations, Purchasing cooperatives
    Marketing Complete assortment of templates and plans annually along with the support of a field marketing representative for more one on one support.

    Co-op Advertising Ad Templates Regional Advertising Social media SEO Website development Email marketing Loyalty program/app

    		Co-op advertising, Ad slicks, Regional advertising
    Operations Absentee Ownership Allowed

    Number of Employees Required to Run: 15 - 30

    		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
     
    Bruster's Real Ice Cream Franchise
    Icebox/Soupbox Franchise
    US Expansion Yes-
    Canada Expansion NoNo
    International Expansion NoYes

    Company Overviews

    About Bruster's Real Ice Cream

    Consistently ranked among the nation's top Franchises by Entrepreneur Magazine, Bruster's Real Ice Cream is one of the fastest growing ice cream franchises. Bruster's Real Ice Cream started as a family-owned ice cream shop in 1989 when founder Bruce Reed opened his first store in Bridgewater, PA. Bruce grew up in the food service business working at his family's diner just blocks away from where he opened the first Bruster's ice cream store. Today, Bruster's has more than 230 stores in the eastern United States from New Hampshire to Florida, with a majority of them being locally owned and operated. Bruster's Real Ice Cream has been consistently ranked by Entrepreneur magazine as one of the nation's leading franchise companies. Bruster's philosophy is very simple. We believe that ice cream is one of life's great, simple pleasures that can be shared with family and friends of all ages. Bruster's Real Ice Cream store owners and managers share in that philosophy and our commitment to providing only the highest quality products and service to our customers. They are highly skilled experts in making only the freshest ice cream with the finest ingredients. Our owners and managers continue to rotate flavors to keep their product offering new and exciting every time a customer visits the store.

    In addition, Bruster's Real Ice Cream is constantly developing and testing new products based on customer feedback.

    The total investment necessary to begin operation of a Bruster’s franchised business is between $508,000 and $1,315,000 for a freestanding Unit, between $229,200 and $584,500 for an endcapUnit. This includes $35,000 that must be paid to the Franchisor or its affiliate(s) for a Unit.

    Seeking new franchise units throughout the U.S., Asia, Canada, Central America, Middle East, Mexico, Philippines and South America    

    #54 on Entrepreneur's ranking of the top 150 franchises offering incentives and other programs to help veterans become franchisees
    Veteran Incentives  50% off franchise fee

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    In Franchise Business Reviews Top 200.

    "Top
    #23 in Gator's Top franchises.



    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.