FranchiseVerdict
Melt Shop logo
FV-01610·CAUTIONStandard76FDD 2022

Melt Shop

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2017Website
Investment
$427K – $767K
57th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
6.0%
54th pct Full Service
Units
13
47th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $427K – $767K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 68/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 129 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
Melt Shop Enterprises, LLC
Incorporated in
New York
HQ
56 W. 22nd Street—2nd Fl, New York, NY 10010
Auditor
CohnReznick LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$264K
vs $397K 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 Melt Shop 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: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $427K–$767K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $9K–$23K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

18%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$113K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$613K
Payback
65 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 specialty grilled cheese sandwich and melted sandwich restaurants, managing food preparation, inventory, customer service, and daily P&L. Day-to-day operations include managing a small team, maintaining food quality standards, handling cash flow, and driving local marketing to build customer loyalty in a competitive QSR segment.

CEO
Spencer Rubin
Founded
2017
FDD year
2022
States available
3

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$427K – $767K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$9K – $23K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
6.0%
Net Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
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
13
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
9
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
31%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+0.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-42.9%
Compounded over last 3 years
2020
4-7
Franchised units
2021
4
Franchised units
2022
7
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 17 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 · 17 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
129
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

68
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION68 / 100

Melt Shop presents high risk due to going concern status, tiny unit base with unknown growth, zero territory protection, and complete absence of financial performance disclosure necessary to validate the $426k-$767k investment.

Score breakdown · what drove the 68 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing concern warning indicates franchisor financial distress or viability uncertainty
  2. 02MINOROnly 13 units with unknown growth trajectory suggests stagnant or declining system
  3. 03MINORNo Item 19 financial performance data (avg revenue/net income) prevents ROI validation
  4. 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other franchisees in same market
  5. 05MEDHigh investment range ($426k-$767k) with no disclosed average unit economics creates payback uncertainty
  6. 06MINORMinimal franchise fee ($35k) relative to total investment suggests thin franchisor support model
  7. 07MINOR10-year term locks capital with no clear exit strategy given small unit count

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius/Block-based
Protected territory
No
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
New York

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
24 hrs
On-the-job training
224 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

18 numbers

Locked
(701) 328-••••
ND
(860) 240-••••
CT
(317) 232-••••
IN

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Melt Shop · FDD (2022) PDF

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