FranchiseVerdict
Nancy’s® Pizzeria logo
FV-01737·MODERATEExcellent95

Nancy’s® Pizzeria

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 1994Website
Investment
$583K – $1.9M
73rd pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$1.8M
38th pct Full Service
Royalty
6.0%
54th pct Full Service
Units
29
62nd pct Full Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $583K – $1.9M including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.8M/year (median $1.4M).
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 56/100.
  • 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
CHICAGO FRANCHISE SYSTEMS, INC.
Incorporated in
Illinois
HQ
18861 90th Avenue Suite H, Mokena, Illinois 60448
Auditor
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$2.8M
vs $2.1M 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 Nancy’s® Pizzeria unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,760,590
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: $583K–$1.9M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$70K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

19%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$246K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$1.3M
Payback
63 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 Nancy’s® Pizzeria units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

39.6%

5.31× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.13×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$3.6M

on $12.3M purchase

Total debt

$8.7M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($6.2M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Nancy's Pizzeria franchisees operate full-service pizza restaurants, managing daily food preparation, customer service, staffing, inventory, and point-of-sale operations. Franchisees are responsible for local marketing, rent, labor, and ingredients while paying 6% of gross sales to the franchisor and adhering to operational standards under a 10-year protected territorial agreement.

CEO
David C. Howey, Jr.
Founded
1993
FDD year
2023
States available
4

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$583K – $1.9M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $70K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
6.0%
percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
3.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
9.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.8M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.4M
Item 19 type
Actual average annual Gross Sales
Sample size
26 units
vs category median 15
Range (low → high)
$306K$4.7M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank38th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank73th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank54th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank62th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank33th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
29
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
12.5%
Net growth (yr3)
+3.6%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+7.4%
Compounded over last 3 years
2021
29+1
Franchised units
2022
28
Franchised units
2023
27
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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

56
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE56 / 100

Nancy's Pizzeria presents moderate-to-caution risk: slow growth, undisclosed net income, active litigation with breach/misrepresentation allegations, and high capital requirements warrant deep validation with current franchisees before proceeding.

Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHActive litigation (2022) involving trademark infringement, unpaid royalties, and breach of contract allegations raises questions about franchisor enforcement and franchisee support quality
  2. 02MINORExtremely slow unit growth (3.6% YoY on a 29-unit system) suggests market saturation, franchisee recruitment challenges, or system-wide performance concerns
  3. 03MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — unable to validate actual profitability claims; average revenue of $1.76M does not guarantee franchisee profitability after COGS, labor, and 6% royalties
  4. 04MEDHigh initial investment range ($582K–$1.9M) with limited transparency on break-even timeline and actual unit economics
  5. 05MINORCounterclaims alleging misrepresentation regarding marketing support and SBA financing suggest potential gaps in franchisor-provided resources

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
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
1
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
Illinois

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
30 hrs
On-the-job training
240 hrs
POS system
Speedline Service
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

37 numbers

Locked
(708) 403-••••
Restaurant operational
IL
(815) 933-••••
Restaurant operational
IL
(312) 733-••••
Restaurant operational
IL

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Nancy’s® Pizzeria · FDD (2023) PDF

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