FranchiseVerdict
Crown Trophy logo
FV-00670·MODERATEExcellent81

Crown Trophy

RetailFranchising since 1985Website
Investment
$168K – $199K
38th pct Retail
Avg revenue
53rd pct Retail
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Retail
Units
129
69th pct Retail
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $168K – $199K 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 54 loans (below the industry average).
  • System contracting at -5.1% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Crown Trophy, Inc.
Incorporated in
New York
HQ
9 Skyline Drive, Hawthorne, New York 10532
Auditor
Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$4.0M
vs $3.9M 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 Crown Trophy 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: retail
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $168K–$199K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $30K–$35K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

28%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$60K
EBITDA margin
8.0%
Total invested
$216K
Payback
43 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

Crown Trophy franchisees operate retail and/or production facilities specializing in custom trophies, awards, medals, plaques, and engraving services. Day-to-day operations include managing customer orders (schools, sports leagues, corporate events), production/fabrication, inventory management, and local sales/account development.

CEO
Charles Weisenfeld
Founded
1985
FDD year
2025
States available
41

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$168K – $199K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$30K – $35K
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
129
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
4
Turnover rate
3.1%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-3.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-5.1%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
129-5
Franchised units
2024
134
Franchised units
2025
136
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 34 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 · 34 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
54
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

Crown Trophy presents meaningful risk due to system contraction, absent financial transparency, and high capital requirements relative to undisclosed earnings potential.

Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORUnit count declining 3.7% YoY (129 units) indicates contracting system during economic recovery period
  2. 02MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (avg revenue/net income not disclosed) prevents ROI validation and comparability to investment
  3. 03MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (10 years typical), creating higher renewal/relocation risk
  4. 04MINORSliding scale minimum royalty structure is opaque—actual effective rate and breakeven thresholds unknown
  5. 05MINORHigh initial investment ($168K-$199K) relative to unknown revenue potential creates unfavorable risk-reward ratio
  6. 06MINORProtected territory scope undefined—geographic size and customer density unspecified

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
5 years
Renewal term
5 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
New York

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
52 hrs
On-the-job training
12 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

100 numbers

Locked
(904) 260-••••
FL
(952) 884-••••
MN
(701) 365-••••
ND

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Crown Trophy · FDD (2025) PDF

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