FranchiseVerdict
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FV-02593·STRONGExcellent81

The Alley

Food & Beverage - Quick ServiceFranchising since 2021Website
Investment
$400K – $743K
72nd pct Quick Service
Avg revenue
60th pct Quick Service
Royalty
7.0%
81st pct Quick Service
Units
9
27th pct Quick Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $400K – $743K including a $50K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 47/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 12 loans (below the industry average).
  • Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
The Alley LLC
Incorporated in
Nevada
HQ
3271 E Warm Springs Rd., Las Vegas, Nevada 89120
Auditor
Chen & Fan Accountancy Corporation
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$232K
vs $456K prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2024
Status as of 2024; may have been resolved in a later filing we don't yet have.

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 The Alley 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: qsr
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $400K–$743K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $18K–$30K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

18%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$105K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$595K
Payback
68 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

The Alley is a beverage-focused QSR franchise (likely tea/bubble tea based on brand name) where franchisees operate standalone or co-located retail locations, managing POS operations, inventory, beverage preparation, and customer service. Day-to-day responsibilities include staff scheduling, product quality control, and local marketing to drive transaction volume against the 7% royalty obligation.

CEO
Mao-Ting Chiu
Founded
2020
FDD year
2024
States available
6

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$400K – $743K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$18K – $30K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$50K
Royalty
7.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
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
9
Opened
7
Last reporting year
Closed
1
Turnover rate
11.1%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
89%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+100.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+166.7%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
8+3
Franchised units
2023
4
Franchised units
2024
3
Franchised units

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

Item 12 · 6 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.

6

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
12
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

47
Risk · 0-100
STRONG47 / 100

Early-stage beverage concept with minimal disclosure of unit economics, unproven system profitability, and rapid growth that may not be sustainable.

Score breakdown · what drove the 47 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosed in FDD Item 19 — impossible to assess ROI on $400k-$743k investment
  2. 02MEDOnly 9 units system-wide suggests early-stage or niche concept with limited track record and operational maturity
  3. 03MINOR100% YoY unit growth could indicate aggressive expansion masking retention issues or cherry-picked data
  4. 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($343k spread) without corresponding financial performance metrics raises transparency concerns
  5. 05MED7% royalty on undisclosed sales makes financial projections unreliable for franchisee modeling

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
5 years
Renewal term
5 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
Nevada

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
16 hrs
On-the-job training
153 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

6 numbers

Locked
(619) 808-••••
CA
(858) 588-••••
CA
(630) 402-••••
IL

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

The Alley · FDD (2024) PDF

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