Gloria Jean’s Coffees
Bottom line
- Total investment $210K – $564K including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 9 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
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 Gloria Jean’s Coffees unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
18%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Gloria Jean's franchisees operate specialty coffee retail locations, serving espresso-based beverages, pastries, and café items to walk-in customers. Daily operations include staff management, inventory ordering, POS system management, and maintaining brand standards across store presentation and customer service. Franchisees typically work 50-60 hour weeks managing staffing, pricing, local marketing, and cash flow in a competitive QSR environment.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
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
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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Declining unit base, undisclosed financials, litigation history, and parent company going concern status create substantial uncertainty around franchisee profitability and franchisor viability.
Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 7.5% YoY (37 units) indicates contracting franchise system with potential viability concerns
- 02MEDNo disclosed average revenue or net income prevents ROI validation; unable to assess if $209k-$563k investment generates acceptable returns
- 03HIGHTwo concluded litigation cases against parent RFG Ltd regarding unconscionable behavior and forced franchise model changes signal franchisor-franchisee relationship deterioration and potential systemic issues
- 04MED6% royalty on undisclosed gross sales creates opacity around true profitability and cash flow obligations
- 05HIGHGoing concern status suggests financial stress at corporate level, raising questions about franchisor support and system stability
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
43 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Gloria Jean’s Coffees · FDD (2025) PDF