Small Town Play Café Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Small Town Play Café is a family franchise combining an indoor kids' play area with a cafe. Franchisees run the venues, managing play areas, the cafe, parties, and staffing.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Small Town Play Café franchise requires a total initial investment of $501K – $792K, including a $45K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.0M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: C (Average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $501K – $792K
- 33rd pct Recreation & …
- Avg gross sales
- $1.0M
- Company-owned onlyn=110th pct Recreation & …
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 7th pct Recreation & …
- Units
- 1
- 4th pct Recreation & …
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Recreation & Entertainment · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Recreation & Entertainment avg · 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 $501K – $792K including a $45K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.0M/year (company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance). Note: this is gross profit, not take-home income.
- RISKVerdict C (Average), verdict score 44/100 (higher is better).
- FLAGRevenue data based on only 1 reporting unit. Treat as directional, not definitive. Ask franchisees directly for current unit economics.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Small Town Play Café Franchising LLC
- CEO title
- Founder and CEO
- Kimberly Coe
- Incorporated in
- New Jersey
- HQ
- 278 North Avenue East, Westfield, New Jersey 07090
- Auditor
- Metwally CPA PLLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $180K
- Most recent fiscal year
Affiliated brands
- Small Town Play Cafe IP Holdings
- owns and operates a business similar to the franchise offering
- Small Town Play Cafe
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Kimberly Coe
- Headquarters
- NJ
- Founded
- 2025
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 1
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 51% below the typical recreation & entertainment franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown16 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $45K | $45K | |
| Construction, Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $259K | $396K | |
| Furniture and Fixturesnot refundable | $15K | $24K | |
| Equipmentnot refundable | $27K | $39K | |
| Signage (interior and exterior)not refundable | $4K | $18K | |
| Computer, Software and POS Systemnot refundable | $11K | $15K | |
| Opening Inventorynot refundable | $19K | $27K | |
| Rent Deposits | $22K | $55K | |
| Utility Deposits | $981 | $1K | |
| Insurance Deposits and Premiumsnot refundable | $2K | $8K | |
| Pre-opening Travel Expensenot refundable | $1K | $3K | |
| Grand Opening Marketingnot refundable | $1K | $5K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $30K | $40K | |
| Business Permits and Licensesnot refundable | $5K | $6K | |
| Menu Printing, Stationery and Office Suppliesnot refundable | $2K | $2K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Monthsnot refundable | $57K | $109K | |
| Total initial investment | $501K | $792K |
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
- $501K – $792K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $57K – $109K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $45K – $45K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Revenues · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 7.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $100 |
| Transfer fee | $50 |
| Renewal fee | $15 |
| Total fee load | 7.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales land near the recreation & entertainment norm.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Based on a single reporting unit - not a system average
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$166K
16.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
23%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.4 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Small Town Play Café unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
23%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Small Town Play Café units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.9M
on $9.3M purchase
Total debt
$7.5M
SBA $4.7M + senior + seller note
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
Based on a single reporting unit - not a system average
- Avg gross sales
- $1.0M
- Per unit, per year
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- Company Owned
- Sample size
- 1
- vs category median 5 · small
- Reported figure
- $1.0M
- A single outlet — not a range
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- The FDD edition these figures were read from
- Transparency
- 8 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 166 Recreation & Entertainment brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $1.0M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.6x. Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 7.0% — below the Recreation & Entertainment average of 8.8%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 8/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence. Sample size of 1 unit — treat as directional only.
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 Recreation & Entertainment averages
How Small Town Play Café Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 1
- 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
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 0%
- vs corporate-owned
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 0
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 1 state 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.
1
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
Pre-opening franchisor that began franchising in 2025 with just 1 company-owned unit and no franchised units yet. No litigation or bankruptcy, positive net worth $106,418, but financials are unaudited and history is very limited.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $45,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Metwally CPA PLLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORPre-opening, is_pre_opening=true, franchising since 2025
- 02MINOROnly 1 unit total, 0 franchised
- 03MINORUnaudited financials
- 04MINORNo litigation, no bankruptcy; positive net worth $106,418
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 7.0% 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 | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Radius or Population |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Territory sizeℹ | 75,000 people |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 10 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | New Jersey |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 24 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 56 hrs
- Training location
- On-site at franchisee's restaurant and franchisor's facility
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
1 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Small Town Play Café · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Small Town Play Café franchise?
The total investment to open a Small Town Play Café franchise ranges from $501K – $792K, with an initial franchise fee of $45K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Small Town Play Café franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Small Town Play Café FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.0M. Important context: Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance; Based on a single reporting unit - not a system average. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Small Town Play Café 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 Small Town Play Café FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Small Town Play Café's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Small Town Play Café (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 Small Town Play Café franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Small Town Play Café has 1 total units in the United States, including 0 franchised units and 1 company-owned units.
Is Small Town Play Café a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Small Town Play Café as a C-grade franchise with a verdict score of 44 out of 100 (higher is better), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. 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 Small Town Play Café, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Other Recreation & Entertainment franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Recreation & Entertainment category
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.