Crumbl

The $50,000 franchise fee is non-refundable at signing. Add the $8,000 initial training fee, $12,000–$15,000 opening tech equipment package (iPads, TVs, technology hardware), and $8,000–$13,000 opening box and ingredient package, and you're at $78,000–$86,000 in day-one fees before a single brick is laid.

The real investment is in construction and equipment. Real estate and improvements run $350,000–$700,000. Equipment, furniture, and fixtures add $83,000–$111,000. Signs run $12,000–$32,000. Three months of rent during buildout adds $16,666–$83,333. Total all-in: $816,066 on the low end, $1,442,533 at the high — making this one of the most capital-intensive food franchise entries in the $1M–$1.5M range.

The ongoing fee structure is the heaviest part of the equation. Crumbl charges 8% royalty — higher than McDonald's (5%), Domino's (5.5%), and most QSR comparables. The Marketing Fund Fee is 2%, and the technology fee is $1,200/month ($14,400/year). Combined royalty and marketing: 10% of gross sales, plus $14,400 in tech fees. On a $1.3M store, that's $130,000 in royalty/marketing plus $14,400 in tech — $144,400 per year out before food costs, labor, or rent.

If you sign an area development agreement (required for 3+ locations at $50,000 per unit), the transfer fee is $25,000 per transaction — unusually high and worth factoring into any exit strategy.

Crumbl disclosed detailed financial performance data for 858 established locations in 2024. Average gross sales were $1,354,688 and the median was $1,303,412 — a relatively tight range, with 45% of stores meeting or exceeding the average. The top store did $3.5M; the bottom hit $383K.

The rare and valuable part of Crumbl's Item 19 is that they disclose gross profit and net profit, not just revenue. Average gross profit (sales minus food, labor, and payroll taxes) was $653,586. Average net profit (after all operating expenses, interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was $251,706.

But here's the number that matters: median net profit was just $77,359. The average is skewed upward by the top performers. More than half of Crumbl operators netted under $78,000 on an investment of $816K–$1.4M. For context, a passive investment of $1M at 7% annual return generates $70,000 per year with zero operational effort.

The top performers clearly do well — a $3.5M gross sales store might net $500K+. But the median story isn't a wealth-building play unless you own multiple locations, which requires more capital and the $50,000/unit area development fee.

Crumbl's growth tells a clear story in the numbers. The brand exploded from 691 locations in 2022 to 972 in 2023 — adding 364 and 289 units in consecutive years. In 2024, that rocket stopped: 100 new openings, 12 closures, net gain of 88 units to reach 1,059 total.

The slowdown is territory exhaustion, not brand weakness. All primary territories in the US have been awarded. The 100 openings in 2024 came from territory resales and a trickle of remaining secondary markets — Crumbl's own development pipeline has essentially run out of new ground. The brand has confirmed this publicly: new US entry is through the resale market only.

The 12 closures in 2024 (vs 8 in 2023 and 0 in 2022) signal that some early operators who caught the wave are now struggling as the novelty cycle flattens and competitors like Crumbl imitators and other rotating-menu bakeries have emerged. A 1.1% closure rate is not alarming in isolation — but trending from 0% to 1.1% in two years on a high-fee model warrants scrutiny.

A resale at a well-established location in a strong market may be the most defensible entry. But only with 3 years of audited unit financials in hand, not just the Item 19 aggregate data.

The 8% royalty is genuinely high for a food concept. Most QSR brands charge 5–6%. Crumbl's argument is that the brand drives traffic — but at $1.3M median revenue, a 3% royalty difference versus a comparable brand costs you $39,000/year. Over a 10-year term, that's $390,000+ in additional fees.

The transaction processing fee structure is unusual: Crumbl retains the difference between the merchant processor rate (~2.36%) and whatever they've negotiated. You don't know what margin they're capturing on every card transaction.

The $25,000 transfer fee is one of the highest in franchising for a food concept. If you want to sell your location in year 5, that fee comes off the top of your sale price.

The area development agreement requires 3+ locations at $50,000 per unit — $150,000+ committed before you know whether your market supports the concept. Many franchise attorneys recommend against signing multi-unit development agreements before proving a single unit's economics.