FranchiseVerdict
Pop’s Italian Beef & Sausage logo
FV-02006·MODERATEExcellent81

Pop’s Italian Beef & Sausage

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2010Website
Investment
$577K – $1.2M
72nd pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
3.0%
2nd pct Full Service
Units
17
51st pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $577K – $1.2M including a $25K franchise fee, 3.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 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
POP'S FRANCHISE SYSTEMS, LLC
Incorporated in
Illinois
HQ
42 Long Grove Drive, Lemont, Illinois 60439
Auditor
George Korbakes & Co., LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$559K
vs $685K 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 Pop’s Italian Beef & Sausage 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: $577K–$1.2M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $50K–$100K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

14%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$135K
EBITDA margin
18.0%
Total invested
$978K
Payback
87 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 quick-service Italian beef and sausage sandwich shops, handling food preparation, customer service, inventory management, and local marketing. Day-to-day operations include managing a small team, maintaining food quality and safety standards, and driving foot traffic in a protected territory.

CEO
Frank Radochonski
Founded
2009
FDD year
2023
States available
2

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$577K – $1.2M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$50K – $100K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
3.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
5.0%
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
17
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
94%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
4.8%
Net growth (yr3)
+6.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+14.3%
Compounded over last 3 years
2021
16+1
Franchised units
2022
15
Franchised units
2023
14
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 5 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 · 5 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

63
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE63 / 100

Undisclosed financials, regulatory history, and anemic unit growth create substantial due diligence gaps; the $577K–$1.2M investment is difficult to validate without Item 19 data.

Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosed — impossible to assess ROI or validate 3% royalty burden
  2. 02MINORSlow unit growth (6.7% YoY) with only 17 locations suggests weak franchisee recruitment or retention
  3. 03MINOR2010 Illinois regulatory settlement for selling franchises without proper disclosure raises compliance concerns
  4. 04MEDHigh investment range ($577K–$1.2M) with no disclosed average revenue creates opaque unit economics
  5. 05MINOR10-year term locks franchisees into relationship without proven profitability data
  6. 06MINORSmall system size (17 units) limits operational scale, marketing leverage, and supply chain efficiency

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
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Not 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
0 hrs
On-the-job training
240 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

19 numbers

Locked
(415) 972-••••
One Sansome Street, Suite
CA
(213) 576-••••
Suite
CA
(219) 390-••••
Remba, Inc.
IN

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Pop’s Italian Beef & Sausage · FDD (2023) PDF

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