FranchiseVerdict
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FV-02319·MODERATEExcellent86

Signs Now / Signs By Tomorrow

Formerly known as Alliance Global Graphics

Business Services - Printing & SignsFranchising since 2000Website
Investment
$50K – $304K
3rd pct Printing & Si…
Avg revenue
67th pct Printing & Si…
Royalty
Units
141
83rd pct Printing & Si…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $50K – $304K including a $20K franchise fee.
  • 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 105 loans (below the industry average).
  • System contracting at -6.6% 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
Alliance Franchise Brands LLC
Parent company
Alliance Franchise Holdings LLC
Incorporated in
Michigan
HQ
47585 Galleon Drive, Plymouth, Michigan 48170-2466
Auditor
Plante & Moran, PLLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$29.0M
vs $28.5M 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 Signs Now / Signs By Tomorrow 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: retail
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $50K–$304K
Working capital
$
Item 7 didn't break this out — defaulted to ~10% of annual revenue

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

27%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$60K
EBITDA margin
8.0%
Total invested
$220K
Payback
44 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

Signs Now/Signs By Tomorrow franchisees operate retail or production-focused locations producing custom signage, vehicle wraps, promotional products, and print materials for local businesses and consumers. Day-to-day operations involve client consultations, design work, production management (in-house or via third parties), inventory management, and account servicing. Revenue models typically blend high-margin custom orders with lower-margin commodity products.

CEO
Michael Marcantonio
Founded
2000
FDD year
2024
States available
40

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$50K – $304K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$0 – $85K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$20K
Royalty
Sliding scale: 6% of Gross Sales up to $1,206,312; 4% on …
Ad fund
1.0%
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
141
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
6
Turnover rate
4.3%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-4.1%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-6.6%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
141-6
Franchised units
2023
147
Franchised units
2024
151
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 26 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 · 26 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
105
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

Declining franchisee count, litigation history, undisclosed financials, and aggressive minimum royalty structure present material risks despite protected territory and reasonable initial fee.

Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORDeclining unit count (-4.1% YoY) suggests system contraction and potential market saturation or performance issues
  2. 02MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents validation of ROI claims and profitability benchmarks
  3. 03HIGHTwo litigation cases involving breach of contract and post-termination disputes raise concerns about franchisor enforcement practices and franchisee disputes
  4. 04MINORMinimum royalty floor of 6% on $300,000 threshold creates fixed cost burden regardless of actual sales performance
  5. 05MINORWide investment range ($50K-$304K) lacks clarity on which locations achieve profitability and why variance exists
  6. 06MINOR20-year term is unusually long and locks franchisees into relationship with declining system momentum

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Boundary-based
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
20 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Not allowed
Litigation count
2
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
Michigan

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
86 hrs
On-the-job training
80 hrs
POS system
CoreBridge
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

80 numbers

Locked
(415) 972-••••
One Sansome Street, Suite
CA
(213) 576-••••
Suite
CA
(518) 473-••••
NY

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Signs Now / Signs By Tomorrow · FDD (2024) PDF

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