FranchiseVerdict
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FV-00254·STRONGExcellent100

Batteries Plus

RetailFranchising since 1996Website
Investment
$252K – $494K
61st pct Retail
Avg revenue
$888K
29th pct Retail
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Retail
Units
722
94th pct Retail
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $252K – $494K including a $45K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $888K/year (median $773K). Estimated payback in 3.5 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 49/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 7 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Batteries Plus, L.L.C.
Parent company
Square Brands International, LLC
Incorporated in
Wisconsin
HQ
1325 Walnut Ridge Drive, Hartland, WI 53029
Auditor
Grant Thornton LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$330.7M
vs $343.5M prior year

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 Batteries Plus unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $887,757
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: retail
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $252K–$494K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $51K–$62K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

19%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$80K
EBITDA margin
9.0%
Total invested
$430K
Payback
65 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Batteries Plus units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$355K

on $1.8M purchase

Total debt

$1.4M

SBA $0.9M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Batteries Plus franchisees operate retail locations selling batteries, car batteries, and related power products, along with automotive maintenance services (bulbs, wiper blades, basic installation). Daily operations involve inventory management, point-of-sale transactions, customer service, and installation service delivery across a protected territory.

CEO
Scott K. Williams
Founded
1996
FDD year
2024
States available
47

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$252K – $494K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$51K – $62K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$45K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.0%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
3.5 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$888K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$773K
Item 19 type
Merchandise Margin, Net Revenue Statement, and Company-Owned EBITDA
Sample size
520 units
vs category median 52 · large
Range (low → high)
$176K$7.8M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
10 / 5
vs category median 3 / 5 · above
Revenue rank29th
vs Retail peers
Investment cost rank61th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank15th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank94th
vs Retail peers
Risk score rank22th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
722
Opened
30
Last reporting year
Closed
29
Turnover rate
4.0%
Company-owned
116
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
84%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-0.5%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+2.7%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
606+1
Franchised units
2023
609
Franchised units
2024
590
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 9 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 9 states
Not registered

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.

Total loans
7
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

49
Risk · 0-100
STRONG49 / 100

Batteries Plus presents caution-level risk: a declining franchise system with active litigation, unverified financial claims, and margins that may not justify capital deployment for many franchisees.

Score breakdown · what drove the 49 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORDeclining unit count (-0.5% YoY) suggests system contraction despite mature brand presence
  2. 02HIGHDual litigation with both franchisor suing franchisees and franchisees suing franchisor indicates relationship friction and potential operational/contractual disputes
  3. 03MINORNet income of $105,544 on average revenue of $887,757 yields only 11.9% net margin — tight profitability relative to $252K-$493K initial investment and 5% ongoing royalties
  4. 04MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — unable to verify franchisor's revenue/income claims or validate unit-level economics independently
  5. 05MINORHigh initial investment range ($252K-$493K) combined with modest net returns creates 2.4-4.7 year breakeven window with execution risk

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius or Population
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
2
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Wisconsin

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
108 hrs
On-the-job training
87 hrs
POS system
Retail Management System
Operating tech stack

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

99 numbers

Locked
(928) 774-••••
AZ
(520) 744-••••
AZ
(720) 679-••••
CO

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Batteries Plus · FDD (2024) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above