Please & Thank You Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $538K – $1.1M
- Disclosed sales
- partial, no system average
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
PLEASE & THANK YOU is a coffee shop franchise known for specialty coffee and its famous chocolate chip cookies. Franchisees run the cafes, managing baristas, baking, and counter service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A PLEASE & THANK YOU franchise requires a total initial investment of $538K – $1.1M, including a $49K – $64K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. The 2025 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. FranchiseVerdict grade: C (Average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Limited operating history: franchising since 2025. A system this young has fewer than three years of Item 20 outlet history and rarely enough SBA loans for a charge-off rate, so its grade rests on less evidence than an established system's. Read its Item 20 tables and talk to its first franchisees before relying on the grade. Other new franchisors
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium - issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file
Evidence: partial✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored6 of 6 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $538K – $1.1M
- 79th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Company-owned only
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 93rd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 7
- 30th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $538K – $1.1M including a $49K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSItem 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands.
- RISKVerdict C (Average), verdict score 40/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHFlat: no net change in franchised outlets in the latest year (0 opened, 0 closed) (Item 20).
- DATAItem 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands. Ask franchisees directly for full unit-level revenue.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- PLSTHNKS, LLC
- Parent company
- Please & Thank You, LLC
- FDD Item 1, page 9 of the 2025 FDD
- CEO title
- CEO and Owner
- Brooke Lauren Vaughn
- Incorporated in
- KY
- HQ
- 2341 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky 40206
- Auditor
- Patterson & Company CPAs, PLLC
- Unaudited
Overview
About
- CEO
- Brooke Lauren Vaughn
- Headquarters
- KY
- Founded
- 2025
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 2
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 69% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown17 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $49K | $49K | |
| Initial Training Fee | $15K | $15K | |
| Opening Inventory - boxes, cups, food, supplies, etc. | $15K | $25K | |
| Opening Inventory - merchandise for sale (mugs, shirts, stickers, glasses, hats, etc.) | $5K | $10K | |
| Lease and Utilities | $5K | $15K | |
| Security Deposit | $5K | $15K | |
| Design Professional Fees (Atmosphere & Interiors, Drawings for Permitting, and Construction) | $6K | $20K | |
| Build-out of Approved Location | $250K | $500K | |
| Signage | $10K | $25K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, and Decor | $35K | $165K | |
| Equipment | $105K | $180K | |
| Initial Training (Your Travel Costs/Expenses) | $2K | $7K | |
| Pre-Opening and Grand Opening Advertising and Marketing | $500 | $5K | |
| Legal and Accounting Fees Related to Startup Assistance | $8K | $20K | |
| Computer System and Required Hardware and Operating System plus Recommended Security Systems | $4K | $10K | |
| Insurance (quarterly estimate) | $3K | $8K | |
| Additional Funds for Initial Three Months | $20K | $30K | |
| Total initial investment | $538K | $1.1M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $538K – $1.1M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $20K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $49K – $64K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 40.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% |
| Technology fee | $30 |
| Training fee | $15K |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Renewal fee | $25K |
| Inventory (initial) | $15K – $25K |
| Total fee load | 40.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
No Item 19 revenue figure for PLEASE & THANK YOU is on file. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one PLEASE & THANK YOU unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for annual revenue, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
- Item 19 type
- company owned gross sales
- Sample size
- 7
- vs category median 19 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $498K→$1.2MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 51 of the 2025 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
Compared against 781 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 40.0% — above the Quick-Service Restaurants median of 7.5%.
Disclosure
Item 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants medians
How Please & Thank You Compares
Category median of published Quick-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 7
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 7
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 0%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- 0.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 3
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 2 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
2
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
A micro-franchise with corporate financial distress, zero profitability transparency, and unclear unit growth makes this a high-risk investment that requires extensive validation before proceeding.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
No audited financials on file
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Item 21 statements are a compilation (not audited) of PLSTHNKS, LLC (franchisor), tax basis, as of June 30, 2025. Franchisor formed May 2, 2025; the Statement of Assets, Liabilities & Member's Equity and the Statement of Revenue and Expenses report all $0.00 (newly formed shell, no activity). CPA (Patterson & Company CPAs, PLLC) states it is not independent and provides no assurance. Corporate parent Please & Thank You, LLC was not used for Item 21 financials.
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 40 / 100 verdict
- 01MINOROnly 7 units system-wide with unknown growth trajectory — extremely small and potentially stagnant franchise
- 02MINORHigh investment range ($537.5K-$1.1M) paired with 8% royalty creates significant break-even burden without revenue transparency
- 03MEDNo litigation disclosed but Going Concern status suggests potential undisclosed financial or legal issues
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 40.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Exclusive territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 15 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 2 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Kentucky |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | KY |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 16 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 47 hrs
- Training location
- Corporate headquarters/corporate shop, franchised business location, virtual
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 18 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- DRIPOS
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: DRIPOS
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
3 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a PLEASE & THANK YOU franchise?
The total investment to open a PLEASE & THANK YOU franchise ranges from $538K – $1.1M, with an initial franchise fee of $49K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do PLEASE & THANK YOU franchise owners earn?
Item 19 of the PLEASE & THANK YOU FDD discloses outlet figures from $498K to $1.2M but no single average across all outlets. These are gross sales figures, not profit; the Revenue section shows what the filing reports and on what basis. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns PLEASE & THANK YOU?
PLEASE & THANK YOU is franchised by PLSTHNKS, LLC. Its parent company is Please & Thank You, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the PLEASE & THANK YOU FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the PLEASE & THANK YOU FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is PLEASE & THANK YOU's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for PLEASE & THANK YOU (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many PLEASE & THANK YOU franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, PLEASE & THANK YOU has 7 total units in the United States.
Is PLEASE & THANK YOU a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates PLEASE & THANK YOU as a C-grade franchise with a verdict score of 40 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent PLEASE & THANK YOU, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.