FranchiseVerdict
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FV-01947·MODERATEExcellent81

Pieology

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2012Website
Investment
$304K – $808K
36th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
5.0%
15th pct Full Service
Units
109
84th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $304K – $808K including a $25K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 57/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 27 loans (below the industry average).
  • System contracting at -9.0% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Pieology Franchise, LLC
Parent company
The Little Brown Box Pizza, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
18101 Von Karman, Suite #1100, Irvine, CA 92612
Auditor
Moss Adams LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$6.3M
vs $6.0M 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 Pieology 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: $304K–$808K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$50K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

20%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$120K
EBITDA margin
16.0%
Total invested
$591K
Payback
59 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 fast-casual pizza restaurants where customers customize individual pizzas with toppings before they're fired in high-heat ovens. Day-to-day operations include managing front-of-house staff, handling inventory of fresh ingredients, executing made-to-order production, managing POS systems, and handling local marketing. Franchisees are responsible for P&L management, lease obligations, and typically work on-site during peak hours.

CEO
Shawn Thompson
Founded
2012
FDD year
2024
States available
13

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$304K – $808K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $50K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
5.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
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
109
Opened
2
Last reporting year
Closed
11
Turnover rate
10.1%
Company-owned
8
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
93%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
1.0%
Net growth (yr3)
-8.2%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-9.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
101-10
Franchised units
2023
110
Franchised units
2024
111
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 7 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 · 7 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
27
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

57
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE57 / 100

Pieology presents moderate-to-high risk due to contracting unit base, absent financial transparency, and unclear unit profitability in a saturated fast-casual pizza category.

Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORUnit count declining 8.2% YoY (109 units) signals contraction and potential market saturation or operational challenges
  2. 02MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (Avg Revenue and Net Income not disclosed) prevents ROI validation and suggests franchisor may be hiding weak unit economics
  3. 03MEDHigh investment range ($304K-$807.5K) with no disclosed average unit economics creates uncertainty about profitability and payback period
  4. 04HIGHGoing Concern status is False, indicating potential financial instability at franchisor level
  5. 05MINORCompetitive QSR segment (fast-casual pizza) with strong incumbents (Blaze, MOD) makes unit-level differentiation difficult
  6. 06MED5% royalty on undisclosed sales makes it impossible to model actual net income and franchisee cash flow

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
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
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
46 hrs
On-the-job training
146 hrs

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

31 numbers

Locked
(860) 913-••••
CT
(714) 287-••••
CA
(617) 489-••••
MA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Pieology · FDD (2024) PDF

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