FranchiseVerdict
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FV-01455·MODERATEStandard71

LaRosa’s

Food & Beverage - PizzaFranchising since 1967Website
Investment
$1.4M – $2.6M
98th pct Pizza
Avg revenue
46th pct Pizza
Royalty
4.0%
2nd pct Pizza
Units
64
63rd pct Pizza
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $1.4M – $2.6M including a $35K franchise fee, 4.0% 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. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 7 loans (below the industry average).
  • No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
LAROSA’S, INC.
Parent company
LaRosa’s Holding Company
Incorporated in
Ohio
HQ
2334 Boudinot Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45238
Franchisor revenue
$52.2M
Most recent fiscal 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 LaRosa’s 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: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $1.4M–$2.6M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $100K–$100K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

4%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$75K
EBITDA margin
10.0%
Total invested
$2.1M
Payback
338 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

LaRosa's franchisees operate regional pizza restaurants featuring a proprietary thin-crust pizza style and casual dining environment. Daily operations include food preparation, inventory management, customer service, and staff supervision across lunch and dinner service. Franchisees manage P&L, marketing at the local level, and compliance with brand standards while paying 4% of net sales in ongoing royalties.

CEO
Michael T. LaRosa
Founded
1954
FDD year
2024
States available
3

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$1.4M – $2.6M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$100K – $100K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
4.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
4.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
11.5%
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
64
Opened
2
Last reporting year
Closed
3
Turnover rate
4.7%
Company-owned
9
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
86%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-3.5%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-1.8%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
55-1
Franchised units
2023
57
Franchised units
2024
56
Franchised units

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

Item 12 · 3 states reported

The Territory Map

FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.

3

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
7
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

64
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE64 / 100

LaRosa's presents meaningful caution due to shrinking unit count, lack of financial transparency (no Item 19), high capital requirements, and weak system scale—suitable only for investors who can independently validate unit economics with current franchisees.

Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORUnit count declining 3.5% YoY indicates system contraction and potential market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
  2. 02MINORNo Item 19 (average revenue/net income) disclosure prevents ROI validation and suggests financials may not support the $1.4M–$2.6M investment range
  3. 03MEDHigh initial investment ($1.4M–$2.6M) combined with 4% royalty and undisclosed profitability creates significant downside risk without transparency
  4. 04MED64-unit system is relatively small; limited scale creates operational vulnerability and reduces support infrastructure compared to larger franchisors
  5. 05MINOR10-year term is longer than industry standard (5–7 years typical), locking franchisees into unfavorable renewal negotiations

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Geographical Area
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
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Ohio

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
128 hrs
On-the-job training
552 hrs
POS system
PartnerTech / pointofsale.cloud
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.

No franchisee contacts available for LaRosa’s. This brand's FDD Item 20 did not include a contactable franchisee list.

FDD download

LaRosa’s · FDD (2024) PDF

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