FranchiseVerdict
Cobblestone Inn & Suites, Cobblestone Hotel & Suites, Cobblestone Suites logo
FV-00582·STRONGStandard76

Cobblestone Inn & Suites, Cobblestone Hotel & Suites, Cobblestone Suites

Lodging - Hotels & MotelsFranchising since 2013Website
Investment
$5.4M – $24.0M
54th pct Hotels & Mote…
Avg revenue
7th pct Hotels & Mote…
Royalty
Units
119
70th pct Hotels & Mote…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $5.4M – $24.0M including a $40K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 54/100. 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
Incorporated in
Wisconsin
HQ
980 American Drive, Neenah, Wisconsin 54956
Auditor
Baker Tilly US, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$7.2M
vs $8.3M 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 Cobblestone Inn & Suites, Cobblestone Hotel & Suites, Cobblestone Suites 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: $5.4M–$24.0M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $75K–$150K

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
$14.8M
Payback
2152 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

Cobblestone franchisees operate mid-scale hotel properties (typically 50-150 rooms) under the brand, managing daily operations including guest services, housekeeping, maintenance, and marketing. Franchisees generate revenue from room bookings and ancillary services while paying daily per-room royalties and adhering to brand standards.

CEO
Kim Wogernese
Founded
2012
FDD year
2024
States available
19

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$5.4M – $24.0M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$75K – $150K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
$3.75 per room per day
Ad fund
$0.75 per guest room per day
Total fee load
3.8%
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
119
Opened
6
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+5.3%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+9.2%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
119+6
Franchised units
2023
113
Franchised units
2024
109
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 17 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 · 17 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

54
Risk · 0-100
STRONG54 / 100

Cobblestone is a small, slowly-growing hotel franchise with opaque financial performance, an unusually broad cost structure, and heavy per-room royalties that expose franchisees to occupancy risk.

Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 (average unit volumes) disclosed - cannot assess profitability or ROI
  2. 02MINORExtremely wide investment range ($5.4M-$24M) suggests high variability and unpredictable costs
  3. 03MEDSlow unit growth of 5.3% YoY indicates limited brand momentum and market saturation concerns
  4. 04MINORRoyalty structure of $3.75/room/day is highly dependent on occupancy rates - vulnerable to market downturns
  5. 05MEDSmall franchise system (119 units) offers limited brand recognition compared to major hotel chains

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
20 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
Owner-operator
Optional
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

99 numbers

Locked
(701) 256-••••
ND
(920) 230-••••
WI
(620) 896-••••
KS

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Cobblestone Inn & Suites, Cobblestone Hotel & Suites, Cobblestone Suites · FDD (2024) PDF

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