The Culver’s brand was stared in 1984 in Sauk City, Wisconsin.  George Culver purchased the A&W on Phillips Boulevard, which is also US Highway 12, and started to make renovations.  On July 18th of 1984 he and his wife Ruth, son Craig, and daughter-in-law Lea, opened the first Culver’s frozen custard and ButterBurgers.  The first year was very tough and they actually lost money.  The second year they were able to break even and even though George looks back and thinks if he was a smarter business man he would have gotten out sooner, the third year Culver’s caught on and turned a profit.  There are now 400 restaurants in many different states.  They are expanding across the country and Craig Culver is still the CEO as the company remains privately owned.

The Culver’s menu still features Butterburgers and handcrafted beverages that are still very popular.  They also serve a variety of other sandwiches, salads, desserts, and even dinner platters as well.  They are probably best known for their fresh custard desserts and they feature a flavor of the day as well.  The restaurant is considered to be fast casual and they also offered fresh custard to go as well.

If you want to become a restaurant franchisee with Culver’s you will have to make a commitment to the high expectations they have.  They expect at least one of the partners involved or the individual franchises to be full-time and very hands-on.  The owner/operator also is required to always maintain at least 50% ownership in the business or at least 25% ownership in the business and 25% ownership of the real estate.  They expect franchisees to have between $350,000 and $600,000 in liquid assets and they also prefer locations with a 35 mph speed limit or less.  The initial restaurant franchise fee is $55,000 per unit for a 15 year contract.  This contract can be extended ten more years for an extra $30,000.