FranchiseVerdict
CoreLife Eatery logo
FV-00628·MODERATEExcellent81

CoreLife Eatery

Formerly known as The Eatery

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2016Website
Investment
$790K – $1.0M
82nd pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Full Service
Units
49
72nd pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $790K – $1.0M including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 57/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 20 loans (below the industry average).
  • Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
CoreLife Eatery Franchisor, LLC
Parent company
CoreLife Eatery, LLC
Incorporated in
New York
HQ
3108 Vestal Parkway East, Suite #1, Vestal, New York 13850
Auditor
Piaker & Lyons, P.C.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.5M
vs $1.4M prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2024
Status as of 2024; may have been resolved in a later filing we don't yet have.

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 CoreLife Eatery 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: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $790K–$1.0M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$60K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

13%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$120K
EBITDA margin
16.0%
Total invested
$959K
Payback
96 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

CoreLife Eatery franchisees operate fast-casual health-focused restaurants featuring salads, bowls, and prepared meals with an emphasis on fresh, locally-sourced ingredients. Day-to-day operations include managing food preparation, staff scheduling, inventory management, customer service, and maintaining brand standards across menu consistency and restaurant cleanliness.

CEO
Scott Davis
Founded
2016
FDD year
2024
States available
9

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$790K – $1.0M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $60K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
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
49
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
2
Turnover rate
4.1%
Company-owned
25
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
49%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-7.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-25.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
24-3
Franchised units
2023
26
Franchised units
2024
32
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
20
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

57
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE57 / 100

CoreLife Eatery presents elevated risk due to unit contraction, missing financial disclosures, and high capital requirements without transparent profitability data.

Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDUnit count declined 7.7% YoY (49 units) indicating system contraction and potential market saturation or operational challenges
  2. 02MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure in FDD Item 19 prevents ROI validation and profitability assessment
  3. 03MEDHigh initial investment ($789.5K-$1.044M) combined with undisclosed earnings creates significant financial risk with no performance benchmarks
  4. 04MINORRelatively young franchise system with declining trajectory raises sustainability and franchisor support concerns
  5. 05MED5% royalty on net sales provides limited margin cushion in QSR segment where operating margins typically 6-9%

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
10 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
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
state of location

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
26 hrs
On-the-job training
124 hrs

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

15 numbers

Locked
(814) 347-••••
PA
(516) 662-••••
NY
(914) 384-••••
NY

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

CoreLife Eatery · FDD (2024) PDF

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