FranchiseVerdict
Lee's Sandwiches logo
FV-01475·MODERATEExcellent86

Lee's Sandwiches

Food & Beverage - Quick ServiceFranchising since 2004Website
Investment
$210K – $1.7M
36th pct Quick Service
Avg revenue
60th pct Quick Service
Royalty
6.9%
80th pct Quick Service
Units
52
58th pct Quick Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $210K – $1.7M including a $75K franchise fee, 6.9% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 56/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 13 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 20.5% CAGR over 3 years with 52 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Lee’s Sandwiches International, Inc.
Parent company
LCJJ Holdings, Inc.
Incorporated in
California
HQ
660 E. Gish Road, San Jose, California 95112
Auditor
CHU and WATERS, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$2.7M
vs $2.7M 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 Lee's Sandwiches 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: $210K–$1.7M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$120K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

10%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$98K
EBITDA margin
13.1%
Total invested
$1.0M
Payback
124 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

Lee's Sandwiches franchisees operate quick-service sandwich restaurants, likely featuring Vietnamese-style sandwiches (bánh mì) and related food items. Day-to-day operations include food preparation, staffing, inventory management, customer service, and maintaining POS/delivery systems across locations that may include dine-in, counter service, and third-party delivery channels.

CEO
Chieu Van Le
Founded
2002
FDD year
2024
States available
8

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$210K – $1.7M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $120K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$75K
Royalty
6.9%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.9%
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
52
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
1
Turnover rate
1.9%
Company-owned
5
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
90%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+2.2%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+20.5%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
47+1
Franchised units
2023
46
Franchised units
2024
39
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 10 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 · 10 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
13
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

56
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE56 / 100

Stagnant franchise system with unresolved franchisor financial concerns, no disclosed unit economics, and documented collection disputes with franchisees — presents material risk to new investors.

Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing Concern status is False — franchisor financial viability is questionable
  2. 02MEDSystem shrinking: only 52 units with 2.2% YoY growth indicates stagnation or decline
  3. 03MEDNo Item 19 (financial performance) disclosed — inability or unwillingness to provide revenue/profit data
  4. 04HIGHLitigation history shows franchisee payment defaults and franchisor had to pursue collection through arbitration and bankruptcy
  5. 05MINORHigh unit investment range ($209K-$1.68M) creates significant exposure with no performance benchmarks to justify costs
  6. 06MED6.9% royalty on undisclosed revenues makes ROI calculation impossible for prospective franchisees

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
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
2
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
146 hrs
On-the-job training
182 hrs
POS system
Brink POS
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

58 numbers

Locked
(408) 258-••••
CA
(562) 651-••••
CA
(720) 880-••••
CO

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Lee's Sandwiches · FDD (2024) PDF

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