FranchiseVerdict
Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone logo
FV-00343·MODERATEStandard76

Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone

Formerly known as Cobblestone Hotels

Lodging - Hotels & MotelsFranchising since 2013Website
Investment
$100K – $16.9M
2nd pct Hotels & Mote…
Avg revenue
7th pct Hotels & Mote…
Royalty
Units
15
37th pct Hotels & Mote…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $100K – $16.9M including a $45K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 1 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Cobblestone Hotels, LLC
Parent company
None
Incorporated in
Wisconsin
HQ
980 American Drive, Neenah, Wisconsin 54956
Auditor
Baker Tilly US, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$8.3M
vs $9.5M 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 Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: hospitality
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $100K–$16.9M
Working capital
$
Item 7 didn't break this out — defaulted to ~10% of annual revenue

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

1%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$83K
EBITDA margin
11.0%
Total invested
$8.6M
Payback
1247 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.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate mid-scale hotel properties under the Boarders Inn & Suites brand, managing guest check-in/check-out, housekeeping coordination, maintenance, and revenue management. Day-to-day operations include front desk staffing, occupancy optimization, and brand standard compliance while remitting royalties based on room revenue generated.

CEO
Kim Wogernese
Founded
2012
FDD year
2025
States available
9

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$100K – $16.9M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$0 – $150K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$45K
Royalty
$2.25 per guest room per day or 5% of monthly Gross Room …
Ad fund
$0.75 per day multiplied by the number of guest rooms
Total fee load
5.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
15
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
2
Turnover rate
13.3%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-6.2%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-16.7%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
15-1
Franchised units
2024
16
Franchised units
2025
18
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 16 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 · 16 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
1
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

64
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE64 / 100

Shrinking franchise system with undisclosed unit economics, vague financial transparency, and structural royalty ambiguities present meaningful investment risk.

Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORSystem declining 6.2% YoY with only 15 units suggests weak growth trajectory and potential systemic issues
  2. 02MINORNo Item 19 financial disclosure (Avg Revenue/Net Income) prevents accurate ROI assessment and suggests franchisor may lack positive unit economics to share
  3. 03MINORExtremely wide investment range ($99,999–$16.9M) indicates inconsistent unit performance or unclear capital requirements
  4. 04MINORDual royalty structure ($2.25/room/day OR 5% of GRR) creates ambiguity and potential for franchisor revenue optimization at franchisee expense
  5. 05MINORModest $45,000 franchise fee relative to $99,999+ startup costs suggests thin margins or high pre-opening capital needs
  6. 06HIGHGoing Concern = False is ambiguous; clarify if franchisor has financial stability concerns or is merely not flagged by auditors

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
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
2 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Wisconsin

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
78 hrs
On-the-job training
44 hrs
POS system
Stayntouch
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

19 numbers

Locked
(217) 782-••••
IL
(503) 378-••••
OR
(860) 240-••••
CT

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Boarders Inn & Suites by Cobblestone · FDD (2025) PDF

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