FranchiseVerdict
Einstein Bros. Bagels logo
FV-00843·STRONGExcellent95

Einstein Bros. Bagels

Food & Beverage - Coffee & TeaFranchising since 2006Website
Investment
$555K – $1.0M
86th pct Coffee & Tea
Avg revenue
$1.1M
34th pct Coffee & Tea
Royalty
5.0%
17th pct Coffee & Tea
Units
415
96th pct Coffee & Tea
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $555K – $1.0M including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $1.1M). Estimated payback in 2.0 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 46/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 20 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Einstein Bros. Bagels Franchise Corporation
Parent company
Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. ("ENRG")
Incorporated in
Colorado
HQ
1720 S. Bellaire Street, Suite Skybox, Denver, Colorado 80222
Auditor
Grant Thornton LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.1B
vs $1.1B 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 Einstein Bros. Bagels unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,114,358
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $555K–$1.0M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$40K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

12%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$100K
EBITDA margin
9.0%
Total invested
$823K
Payback
98 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Einstein Bros. Bagels units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$446K

on $2.2M purchase

Total debt

$1.8M

SBA $1.1M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Franchisees operate quick-service bagel cafes, managing point-of-sale operations, food preparation, inventory, staffing, and customer service. Day-to-day responsibilities include opening/closing procedures, maintaining food quality standards, compliance with brand standards, and local marketing while paying 5% of gross sales in royalties.

CEO
Jessica DePetro
Founded
2016
FDD year
2025
States available
31

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$555K – $1.0M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $40K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
4.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
9.0%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
2.0 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.1M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.1M
Item 19 type
Gross Sales and Expenses
Sample size
55 units
vs category median 13 · large
Range (low → high)
$451K$2.0M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
10 / 5
vs category median 2 / 5 · above
Revenue rank34th
vs Food & Beverage - Coffee & Tea peers
Investment cost rank86th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank17th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank96th
vs Food & Beverage - Coffee & Tea peers
Risk score rank12th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
415
Opened
35
Last reporting year
Closed
5
Turnover rate
1.2%
Company-owned
352
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
15%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+12.5%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+12.5%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
63+30
Franchised units
2024
56
Franchised units
2025
56
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 22 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 · 22 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

46
Risk · 0-100
STRONG46 / 100

Moderate-to-caution risk profile with solid unit growth and no litigation, but lack of financial disclosure (Item 19) and high capital requirements relative to claimed net income create material due diligence gaps.

Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot independently verify claimed $400,560 average net income
  2. 02MINORHigh initial investment range ($555K–$1.03M) with 5% royalty creates significant break-even pressure on $1.11M average revenue
  3. 03MED12.5% YoY unit growth masks potential saturation — need to verify growth composition (new vs. relocated vs. closed)
  4. 04MINORProtected territory claims require verification — territory size, population density, and exclusivity terms undefined
  5. 05MINOR415-unit system is mid-sized; vulnerability to economic downturn higher than established 1000+ unit franchises

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Circle
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
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Colorado

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
50 hrs
On-the-job training
268 hrs
POS system
NCR/Aloha
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

95 numbers

Locked
(303) 568-••••
Einstein Bros. Bagels Franchise Corporation
CO
(903) 509-••••
TX
(205) 626-••••
AL

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Einstein Bros. Bagels · FDD (2025) PDF

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