2026 FDD Item 19, p. 85
Cold Stone Creamery Franchise Revenue (2026 FDD)
In Item 19 of its 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, Cold Stone Creamery reports average Gross Sales (All franchised outlets) of $604,392 (December 1, 2024 to November 30, 2025, 978 existing U.S. franchised stores that did not first open during the measured fiscal year, excluding Guam and stores temporarily closed at fiscal year end). The figures below are selected disclosures, not a substitute for reading the full Item 19.
Startup cost: a Cold Stone Creamery franchise costs an estimated $390,675 – $680,775 to open (Item 7). See the full Cold Stone Creamery franchise cost breakdown.
Does Cold Stone Creamery’s Item 19 show profit or owner pay?
No. Cold Stone Creamery’s Item 19 reports sales but no profit, costs or owner pay. Rent, payroll, supplies, loan payments and Item 6 fees come out of sales before an owner is paid, so these figures cannot show what an owner earns.
What Cold Stone Creamery discloses (Item 19)
Source: Cold Stone Creamery 2026 FDD, Item 19, PDF p. 85.
| Figure | Value | Period | Based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Gross Sales (All franchised outlets) | $604,392 | December 1, 2024 to November 30, 2025 | 978 existing U.S. franchised stores that did not first open during the measured fiscal year, excluding Guam and stores temporarily closed at fiscal year end (Item 19, PDF p. 85) |
| Median Gross Sales (All franchised outlets) | $573,674 | December 1, 2024 to November 30, 2025 | 978 existing U.S. franchised stores that did not first open during the measured fiscal year, excluding Guam and stores temporarily closed at fiscal year end (Item 19, PDF p. 85) |
| Average Gross Sales (Top 20% of franchised outlets) | $964,900 | December 1, 2024 to November 30, 2025 | 196 top-fifth stores within the 978-store eligible existing U.S. franchised sample, excluding Guam and stores temporarily closed at fiscal year end (Item 19, PDF p. 85) |
| Median Gross Sales (Top 20% of franchised outlets) | $899,296 | December 1, 2024 to November 30, 2025 | 196 top-fifth stores within the 978-store eligible existing U.S. franchised sample, excluding Guam and stores temporarily closed at fiscal year end (Item 19, PDF p. 85) |
| Average Gross Sales (Bottom 20% of franchised outlets) | $332,501 | December 1, 2024 to November 30, 2025 | 196 bottom-fifth stores within the 978-store eligible existing U.S. franchised sample, excluding Guam and stores temporarily closed at fiscal year end (Item 19, PDF p. 85) |
| Median Gross Sales (Bottom 20% of franchised outlets) | $344,652 | December 1, 2024 to November 30, 2025 | 196 bottom-fifth stores within the 978-store eligible existing U.S. franchised sample, excluding Guam and stores temporarily closed at fiscal year end (Item 19, PDF p. 85) |
Item 19 sample and definitions
Item 19, PDF pages 84-85, reports the fiscal period December 1, 2024-November 30, 2025, not calendar 2025 or every restaurant. Of 1,052 open franchised stores stated at fiscal year end, the 978 measured stores were existing locations that did not first open that year, excluding Guam and temporary closures at year end. This condition does not explicitly rule out earlier temporary closures or ownership changes. The top/bottom fifth each contains 196 stores from that sample; those subgroup averages/medians are not individual highest/lowest sales. For all measured stores, 418 (43%) met/exceeded the average and 489 (50%) met/exceeded the median; the top group counts are 71 (36%) and 98 (50%), and bottom group counts 110 (56%) and 98 (50%). Gross Sales means revenue from goods/services less sales tax, discounts, allowances and returns. It does not deduct operating costs, royalties, advertising, financing or taxes on earnings, and no owner-profit figure is given. Weekly franchisee sales reports were not audited. Written substantiation is available on reasonable request; individual results may differ, without assurance of comparable sales.
How to interpret Cold Stone Creamery’s Item 19 figures and sample limits · What Item 19 does and does not show about owner pay.
A source check placed this record on review hold. Automatic fee estimates are withheld until the outstanding issues are resolved. Reported sales are not owner income.
Scope of these figures: The selected Cold Stone Creamery disclosures above retain their recorded periods and samples. The lead figure covers 978 existing U.S. franchised stores that did not first open during the measured fiscal year, excluding Guam and stores temporarily closed at fiscal year end. They do not establish take-home owner income or the results of a new outlet. Read the linked Item 19 for the franchisor's definitions and exclusions.
Full Cold Stone Creamery franchise cost breakdown · Payback calculator (enter your own assumptions)
Sources
Kahala Franchising, L.L.C. dba Cold Stone Creamery Franchise Disclosure Document, issued March 27, 2026, as filed with the Minnesota Commerce (CARDS). Read the source FDD PDF. How to get this FDD yourself.
- Item 5: cited PDF p. 31
- Item 6: cited PDF p. 34
- Item 7: cited PDF p. 40
- Item 19: cited PDF p. 85
- Item 20: cited PDF p. 96
- Agreement term (Item 17): cited PDF p. 77
Page references for Cold Stone Creamery use the PDF viewer's digital page count, not printed page headers. Some viewers download the document instead of opening the referenced page.
If the state document viewer does not open, use Minnesota Commerce's public filing instructions to look up the filing by franchisor name and document date.
Document & verification changelog
- October 29, 2026: Record updated.
- October 28, 2026: Source review hold recorded. Unresolved corrections are listed in this source section.
- October 9, 2026: Provisional publication approved per owner directive: Owner-directed provisional publication before independent source verification was complete.
- October 9, 2026: Initial cost profile published from the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (issued March 27, 2026).