"Our sales are up 8% year to date, and we take that as a win," said CEO Daivd Leonardo. "We're also seeing our franchise stores outperform the company stores in terms of traffic numbers, which is something we're very excited about."

The two new Tucson locations also reflect improvements in development efficiency. The stores averaged $250,000 in opening costs, with several other recent projects coming in below $300,000. According to Leonardo, ongoing refinements to store design and construction are helping reduce investment costs while improving potential returns for franchisees.

Existing franchisees are also delivering strong results. For the first time in the company's history, a franchise location became the top-performing store across the entire system. The Chill-N location in Brentwood, Tenn., led all stores in weekly sales for two consecutive weeks, outperforming even long-established company-owned locations.

"We're incredibly proud to see a franchisee lead the entire system," Leonardo said. "It reflects the quality of our operators and the grassroots marketing they're doing in their local communities."

Consumer trends during the first half of the year have also helped shape the company's strategy. Chill-N has experienced a rebound in delivery sales after softer performance last year, with increased weekday traffic helping offset slightly lower weekend visits. The brand has also seen significant growth in loyalty program participation, with promotional offers and monthly campaigns driving record engagement.

"People still love their ice cream, but they're also looking for value," Leonardo said. "Whether that's through our loyalty program or promotional campaigns, we've found that giving guests an extra incentive has been a very successful strategy for us."

The company has also accelerated investments in technology designed to improve franchise operations and marketing performance. Chill-N is rolling out a new platform that will centralize online reviews, business listings and social media management while giving franchisees additional marketing support from the corporate team. Earlier this year, the company also launched a financial reporting platform that provides real-time visibility into store performance, allowing franchisees to benchmark key operating metrics across the system.

"We are also testing a delivery platform that's going to consolidate all of our advertising across all deliveries through the use of AI," Leonardo said. "It's going to allow us to design better marketing strategies, look at our operational metrics on delivery platforms, and really just be more efficient and provide better ROI."

Looking ahead to the second half of 2026, the company plans to continue expanding in Arizona, Nashville, Tampa and Orlando while further integrating new technology into its operating systems. Chill-N will also place greater emphasis on growing alternative revenue channels, including catering, fundraising and birthday parties, with increased corporate support designed to help franchisees capture additional sales opportunities.