FranchiseVerdict
hoots wings logo
FV-01227·MODERATEExcellent86

hoots wings

Food & Beverage - Quick ServiceFranchising since 2020Website
Investment
$415K – $1.1M
74th pct Quick Service
Avg revenue
60th pct Quick Service
Royalty
5.0%
14th pct Quick Service
Units
14
37th pct Quick Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $415K – $1.1M including a $30K 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 64/100.
  • 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

Legal entity
Hoots Franchising, LLC
Parent company
Hawk Parent, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
1815 The Exchange, Atlanta, Georgia 30339
Auditor
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$487K
vs $488K prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2023
Status as of 2023; may have been resolved in a later filing we don't yet have.

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 hoots wings 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: qsr
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $415K–$1.1M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$120K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

13%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$113K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$846K
Payback
90 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

Franchisees operate quick-service or casual-dining wing restaurants under the Hoots Wings brand, managing food preparation, inventory, staffing, and customer service. Daily operations involve coordinating kitchen production, managing front-of-house service, tracking sales, and ensuring compliance with brand standards while remitting 5% of gross sales as royalties.

CEO
Sal Melilli
Founded
2018
FDD year
2023
States available
4

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$415K – $1.1M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $120K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
5.0%
Percentage of 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
14
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
1
Turnover rate
7.1%
Company-owned
2
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
86%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
23.8%
Net growth (yr3)
+33.3%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+200.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2021
12+2
Franchised units
2022
9
Franchised units
2023
4
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

64
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE64 / 100

High-growth wings concept with aggressive expansion (33%), undisclosed unit economics, and documented litigation involving franchisor affiliates over contract disputes and unpaid royalties presents meaningful profitability and legal risks.

Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORNo Item 19 financial disclosure (average unit volume and net income not provided) - impossible to assess actual profitability or ROI on $414.5K-$1.132M investment
  2. 02MINORAggressive unit growth (33.3% YoY) with only 14 total units suggests either rapid expansion phase with unproven model or cherry-picked growth period
  3. 03HIGHMultiple litigation cases involving franchisor affiliates covering breach of contract, trademark disputes, non-compete enforcement, and unpaid royalty arbitrations indicate systemic disputes with franchisees
  4. 04HIGHGoing Concern status is ambiguous - requires clarification on whether this applies to franchisor stability or specific unit performance issues
  5. 05MED5% royalty on gross sales with no disclosed net income prevents assessment of actual franchisee profitability or break-even timeline
  6. 06HIGHBankruptcy-related adversary proceeding in litigation history suggests financial distress within franchise system

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Geographic Area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
9
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
Georgia

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
8 hrs
On-the-job training
311 hrs
POS system
NCR’s Aloha for Table Service POS System
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
(808) 586-••••
HI
(518) 473-••••
NY
(317) 232-••••
IN

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

hoots wings · FDD (2023) PDF

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