| ||||
Updated RecentlyBruster's Real Ice Cream vs Emerald City Smoothie Franchise Comparison
Below is an in-depth analysis and side-by-side comparison of Bruster's Real Ice Cream vs Emerald City Smoothie including start-up costs and fees, business experience requirements, training & support and financing options.
Start-Up Costs and Fees |
||
| Investment | $229,200 - $1,315,000 | $75,250 - $286,900 |
| Franchise Fee | $35,000 | $15,000 - $25,000 |
| Royalty Fee | 5% | 6% |
| Advertising Fee | 3% | 2% |
| Year Founded | 1989 | 2005 |
| Year Franchised | 1993 | 2005 |
| Term Of Agreement | 10 years | - |
| Term Of Agreement | 10 years | - |
| Renewal Fee | - | - |
Business Experience Requirements |
||
| 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 | - |
Financing Options |
||
| In-House/3rd Party | In-House/3rd Party | |
| Franchise Fees | No/Yes | -/- |
| Start-up Costs | No/Yes | -/- |
| Equipment | No/Yes | -/- |
| Inventory | No/Yes | -/- |
| Receivables | No/Yes | -/- |
| Payroll | No/Yes | -/- |
Training & Support |
||
| 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 | * 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 | 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 | - |
| Operations | Absentee Ownership Allowed Number of Employees Required to Run: 15 - 30 | - |
Expansion Plans |
||
| US Expansion | Yes | - |
| Canada Expansion | No | - |
| International Expansion | No | - |
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.
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
![""]("https://www.my30minutehit.com/imgs/fbr_top_50_2018_half.png")
!["Top]("https://d1v10wa6gxsq73.cloudfront.net/images/production/top100_icon3.png")
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!