FranchiseVerdict
Narwhal’s Crafted logo
FV-01739·MODERATEExcellent91

Narwhal’s Crafted

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2021Website
Investment
$884K – $1.9M
84th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$2.0M
41st pct Full Service
Royalty
8.0%
90th pct Full Service
Units
3
16th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $884K – $1.9M including a $35K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $2.0M/year (median $2.0M).
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
NARWHAL’S FRANCHISING, LLC
Parent company
26H Holdings, LLC
Incorporated in
Missouri
HQ
101 W. Argonne Dr., Suite #65, St. Louis, Missouri 63122
Auditor
Maher & Company PC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1K
vs $2K 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 Narwhal’s Crafted unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,967,637
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: $884K–$1.9M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $50K–$70K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

18%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$256K
EBITDA margin
13.0%
Total invested
$1.4M
Payback
67 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 Narwhal’s Crafted units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

41.2%

5.62× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.08×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$3.3M

on $11.8M purchase

Total debt

$8.5M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($5.9M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Narwhal's Crafted franchisees operate craft beverage retail locations (likely coffee, smoothies, or specialty drinks based on brand positioning) focusing on artisanal preparation and customer experience. Day-to-day operations include inventory management, staff scheduling, point-of-sale transactions, and maintaining brand-standard product quality across a protected territory.

CEO
Brad Merten
Founded
2020
FDD year
2025
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$884K – $1.9M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$50K – $70K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
8.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
10.0%
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
Actual sales of affiliate-owned outlets
Sample size
2 units
vs category median 15 · small
Range (low → high)
$1.7M$2.2M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
7 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank41th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank84th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank90th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank16th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank62th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
3
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
3
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
2023
0+1
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 4 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
Available · 4 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
2
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

65
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE65 / 100

Early-stage franchise with critical transparency gaps (no profitability data, going concern issues) and unproven unit economics across minimal 3-unit system creates elevated financial risk.

Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINOROnly 3 units in system with unknown growth trajectory suggests minimal scale and unproven replicability
  2. 02MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 prevents accurate ROI assessment and profitability validation
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates franchisor may have solvency or operational sustainability issues
  4. 04MINORHigh investment range ($884K-$1.86M) with only 3 operating units creates disproportionate risk exposure
  5. 05MED8% royalty on $1.97M average revenue equals ~$157K annual fees with no disclosed path to profitability
  6. 06MINORExtremely small unit count limits ability to validate performance claims or obtain reliable franchisee references

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 or zip codes
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Granted
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
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Missouri

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
25 hrs
On-the-job training
16 hrs
POS system
Toast 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

4 numbers

Locked
(517) 335-••••
MI
(360) 902-••••
WA
(314) 291-••••
MO

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Narwhal’s Crafted · FDD (2025) PDF

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