FranchiseVerdict
Huckleberry’s logo
FV-01245·STRONGExcellent86

Huckleberry’s

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2016Website
Investment
$482K – $1.6M
63rd pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$2.0M
41st pct Full Service
Royalty
6.0%
54th pct Full Service
Units
35
65th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $482K – $1.6M including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $2.0M/year (median $2.0M).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 51/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 19 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 61.9% CAGR over 3 years with 35 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Heritage Restaurant Brands, LP
Parent company
Heritage Restaurant Brands, LLC
Incorporated in
California
HQ
810 Fiero Lane, Suite 100, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Auditor
Glenn Burdette Attest Corporation
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$3.9M
vs $4.4M 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 Huckleberry’s unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,961,076
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $482K–$1.6M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$50K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

25%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$275K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$1.1M
Payback
48 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 Huckleberry’s units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

36.3%

4.71× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.26×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$4.6M

on $13.7M purchase

Total debt

$9.1M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($6.9M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Huckleberry's franchisees operate retail/service locations (likely specialty food, beverage, or pet-related based on brand name) generating approximately $1.96M in average annual revenue. Day-to-day operations involve customer service, inventory management, and local marketing while paying 6% royalties on gross sales to the franchisor.

CEO
Gregory Graber
Founded
2016
FDD year
2024
States available
2

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$482K – $1.6M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $50K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
6.0%
Gross Volume · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
A minimum percentage of monthly Gross Volume (currently n…
Total fee load
6.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$2.0M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$2.0M
Item 19 type
Gross Sales
Sample size
31 units
vs category median 15 · large
Range (low → high)
$1.1M$3.0M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank41th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank63th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank54th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank65th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank16th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
35
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
97%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+9.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+61.9%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
34+3
Franchised units
2023
31
Franchised units
2024
21
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 16 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 · 16 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
19
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

51
Risk · 0-100
STRONG51 / 100

Huckleberry's presents elevated caution risk due to undisclosed profitability data, concerning Going Concern status, sluggish unit growth, and lack of net income transparency needed to validate the investment thesis.

Score breakdown · what drove the 51 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — cannot verify actual profitability despite $1.96M avg revenue
  2. 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates potential franchisor financial distress or viability questions
  3. 03MEDSlow unit growth of 9.7% YoY with only 35 total units — suggests limited market demand or franchisee satisfaction issues
  4. 04MINORWide investment range ($482K-$1.647M) without clear ROI metrics — high capital requirement with unclear payback period
  5. 05MINOR6% royalty on gross volume is non-standard and punitive during low-revenue months — franchisee cash flow risk

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
group of contiguous zip codes
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
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
0 hrs
On-the-job training
246 hrs
POS system
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

17 numbers

Locked
(503) 378-••••
OR
(317) 232-••••
IN
(651) 539-••••
MN

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Huckleberry’s · FDD (2024) PDF

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