Bottom line
- Total investment $1.1M – $3.9M including a $50K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $3.1M/year (median $3.0M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 57/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 14 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -14.3% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Bar Louie unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
16%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Bar Louie units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
29.5%
3.64× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.74×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$9.1M
on $20.1M purchase
Total debt
$11.0M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Bar Louie franchisees operate upscale casual dining establishments that serve alcohol, food, and beverages in a lounge/bar atmosphere. Day-to-day operations involve managing staff scheduling, food/beverage inventory, customer service, POS systems, marketing locally, and managing P&L against 5% royalty obligations to the franchisor.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 21 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Bar Louie presents elevated risk due to system contraction, unresolved litigation over franchise practices, undisclosed profitability metrics, and a franchisor business model potentially dependent on new franchise sales rather than franchisee prosperity.
Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 100 rating
- 01MEDUnit count declined 10% YoY (66 units), indicating system contraction and potential market saturation or operational challenges
- 02HIGHRecent litigation with Fortney family franchisees alleging breach of contract and franchise statute violations, resulting in forced location transfer to franchisor
- 03MINORNo average net income disclosure (Item 19) despite $3.09M average revenue—inability or unwillingness to provide profitability data is a major transparency red flag
- 04MINORHigh investment range ($1.06M–$3.95M) with 5% royalty creates significant capital risk and ongoing cost burden in contracting system
- 05MINORHigh initial franchise fee ($50,000) combined with declining unit count suggests franchisor may be relying on new unit sales rather than supporting existing franchisee success
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
65 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Bar Louie · FDD (2024) PDF