Founded in 1984 in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, Rita’s has more than 550 shops in 30-plus states. The brand ranked No. 277 on the Franchise Times Top 400 with systemwide sales of $157.6 million in 2022.
When Salvatore Raccuglia tells people his age, he said he usually gets the same reaction.
“They’re like, ‘Wow, you’re really young to be doing all this,’” said Raccuglia, who is 24 and recently signed a five-unit deal to develop Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard in Austin, Texas. “It doesn’t bother me because I know how to run successful businesses and I know that Rita’s is going to be a gold mine here in Austin.”
The young and self-assured entrepreneur, who goes by Sal, plans to open his first Rita’s store in Round Rock, just outside of Austin, in August. He said he’s already identified what he believes is an ideal spot for his first location, next to an H-E-B grocery store.
But, then again, Raccuglia is not about to get ahead of himself. Like a lot of franchisees just starting off, he’s navigating a tight real estate market in his territory.
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“I’m right now just playing the waiting game with real estate brokers and landlords at this time to get things finalized. Nothing moves as fast as you want it to, but that’s just the way things work, so I have to be patient,” said Raccuglia, who’s originally from Redding, Pennsylvania, and has a lot of fond memories of frequenting a Rita’s down the street from his childhood home.
Sal Raccuglia, who is 24, recently signed a five-unit deal to develop Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard in Austin, Texas.
Raccuglia is not new to the food industry. Before becoming a Rita’s franchisee, Raccuglia worked at his family’s pizza shop, flipping pies. He spent three years as an electrician after high school before starting an independent online wholesale clothing and sneaker business, which he plans to continue running while ramping up his franchise operations.
“When I moved to Austin about a year ago, I noticed right away there was no Italian ice places here,” Raccuglia said. “I knew I wanted to franchise something and it really only made sense to go with Rita’s because I grew up with it and I was very familiar with it. The other thing is, it gets really hot down here in the summer, like 100 degrees a lot of days. Who doesn’t want an Italian ice on a really hot day?”
Founded in 1984 in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, Rita’s has more than 550 shops in 30-plus states. The brand ranked No. 277 on the Franchise Times Top 400 with systemwide sales of $157.6 million in 2022. The investment range to open a Rita’s is $278,233 to $643,094, with an average unit volume of $248,000, according to the company’s franchise disclosure document.
Raccuglia is betting Rita’s menu of gelatis, concretes, milkshakes, creamy frozen custard and its signature Italian ice made fresh daily will go over big in the Austin market.
“Austin is a growing city with a lot of neighborhoods and new families moving in and that is really the audience I’m going after,” he said. “You have your Dairy Queens and other ice cream shops here, but Rita’s doesn’t do ice cream. They do custard. It’s different and I think a lot better.”
While Rita’s has six other Texas locations in and around Houston, San Antonio, Arlington, Galveston and Bedford, Raccuglia is the first franchisee for the Austin market. The company was obviously not deterred by his age or lack of franchising experience.
“Having Sal join our franchise network as our newest franchisee in Austin is a great step forward for the brand’s development, and we are glad to welcome him to the team as Rita’s grows in Texas,” CEO Linda Chadwick said.
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Raccuglia plans to hire store managers and employ mainly highly motivated and outgoing 16- to 18-year-old servers at his locations that will range between 750 and 1,200 square feet in size.
“If you want to run five franchise locations successfully you have to make good hires and train them right,” he said, “and I plan on doing that.”