Rita's Italian Ice Tests Year-Round Model with DFW Drive-Thrus

Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard will open its first North Texas location July 1 in North Richland Hills. The shop, at 8900 N Tarrant Parkway, is the first of four drive-thru stores the chain plans to open across the Dallas-Fort Worth area this year. Flower Mound, Carrollton and Farmers Branch are slated to follow later in 2026, pending permitting and renovations.

The expansion marks a strategic shift for the 40-year-old East Coast brand. Rita's built its business on seasonal foot traffic in strip malls, with sales peaking between Memorial Day and Labor Day. In North Texas, the company is betting that a drive-thru format can sustain year-round demand in a climate that averages more than 230 days above 70°F.

CEO Linda Chadwick framed the move in community terms. “North Texas gives us the opportunity to be part of those moments year-round,” she said in a statement. The financial logic is less sentimental. Each franchise location costs roughly $300,000 to $500,000 to open, according to the company's franchise disclosure document. The franchisee pays a royalty of about 6% of gross sales. Labor costs run $0.50 to $0.75 per cup at Texas's $7.25 minimum wage, before rent and royalty. To cover those fixed costs, a shop needs consistent throughput through the winter, not just summer peaks.

The common mistake is to read the expansion as a pure demand story. Rita's already has brand recognition in Texas from locals who visited East Coast shops. The harder question is execution. A drive-thru requires two to three employees per shift. If winter daily sales fall below $800, the model breaks on labor alone. A franchisee in Phoenix, a comparable climate, told a local business journal in 2024 that winter sales ran about 40% of summer peaks. That split is roughly break-even for a well-run shop.