Cork and Candles
Bottom line
- Total investment $284K – $378K including a $50K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $535K/year. Estimated payback in 1.7 years.
- Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 70/100.
- Emerging franchise — only 3 years of franchising with 4 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.
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 Cork and Candles unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
20%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Cork and Candles units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$749K
on $3.7M purchase
Total debt
$3.0M
SBA $1.9M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Cork and Candles franchisees operate retail storefronts and/or e-commerce platforms selling premium candles, home fragrance products, and home décor accessories. Daily operations include inventory management, customer service, retail merchandising, point-of-sale management, and fulfillment of online orders. Franchisees may also manage local marketing campaigns and community events to drive foot traffic and online sales.
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 · 14 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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Cork and Candles presents HIGH RISK due to going concern warnings, stalled unit growth (4 units only), unverified financial claims, and marginal ROI economics that don't justify the investment scale or royalty burden.
Score breakdown · what drove the 70 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates material doubt about franchisor's ability to continue operations
- 02MINOROnly 4 units with unknown growth trajectory — suggests stalled or contracting system with minimal scale
- 03MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representation — cannot independently verify the $534,873 average revenue claim
- 04MINORHigh investment-to-net-income ratio — $283k-$378k investment yields only ~$190k net income (51-67% ROI over 10 years, ~5-6.7% annual)
- 05MINOR7% royalty on gross revenue is aggressive relative to candle/home décor industry norms (typically 4-6%)
- 06MINORMinimal franchise fee ($49,500) relative to total investment suggests franchisor relies heavily on royalties rather than sustainable unit growth
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
14 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Cork and Candles · FDD (2025) PDF