FranchiseVerdict
Family Fare logo
FV-00905·CAUTIONExcellent81

Family Fare

RetailFranchising since 2013Website
Investment
$30K – $1.2M
2nd pct Retail
Avg revenue
53rd pct Retail
Royalty
56.0% (?)
Likely extraction error
Units
104
65th pct Retail
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $30K – $1.2M including a $10K franchise fee, 56.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 71/100.
  • No protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
FAMILY FARE, LLC
Incorporated in
North Carolina
HQ
4220 Neal Road, Durham, North Carolina 27705
Auditor
B. Dane Byers, CPA, PLLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$21.7M
vs $22.9M 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 Family Fare 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: $30K–$1.2M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $15K–$60K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

-52%

Negative

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$-330K
EBITDA margin
-44.0%
Total invested
$640K
Payback
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

Family Fare franchisees operate retail grocery or convenience store locations serving neighborhood customers. Day-to-day operations include inventory management, customer service, staff scheduling, and local marketing while remitting 56% of gross profit to the franchisor.

CEO
Marvin Barnes
Founded
2003
FDD year
2025
States available
2

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$30K – $1.2M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$15K – $60K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$10K
Royalty
56.0%
percentage of Gross Profit · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
n/d

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
104
Opened
5
Last reporting year
Closed
5
Turnover rate
4.8%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+0.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+2.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
104±0
Franchised units
2024
104
Franchised units
2025
102
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 15 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 · 15 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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

71
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION71 / 100

Family Fare presents high investment risk due to going concern status, predatory royalty structure, litigation history, unproven profitability, and lack of territory protection.

Score breakdown · what drove the 71 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing concern issue (False) indicates potential financial instability at franchisor level
  2. 02MINORExtremely high royalty rate of 56% of gross profit leaves minimal margin for franchisee profitability
  3. 03MINORNo revenue or net income disclosure prevents accurate ROI assessment
  4. 04MINORTwo lawsuits involving discrimination and misrepresentation claims suggest franchisor-franchisee relationship problems
  5. 05MINOR104 units with unknown growth trajectory suggests possible stagnation or contraction
  6. 06MINORNo protected territory creates direct competition between franchisees
  7. 07MINORWide investment range ($30K-$1.17M) indicates inconsistent unit economics
  8. 08MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard, creating renewal uncertainty

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
2
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
Required
Governing law
North Carolina

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
10 hrs
On-the-job training
51 hrs
POS system
PDI software
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

22 numbers

Locked
(312) 793-••••
IL
(217) 782-••••
IL
(608) 266-••••
WI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Family Fare · FDD (2025) PDF

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