FranchiseVerdict
The Bagel Nook logo
FV-02597·MODERATEExcellent86

The Bagel Nook

Food & Beverage - Quick ServiceFranchising since 2019Website
Investment
$603K – $1.2M
87th pct Quick Service
Avg revenue
$1.5M
40th pct Quick Service
Royalty
6.0%
46th pct Quick Service
Units
4
14th pct Quick Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $603K – $1.2M including a $30K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.5M/year.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
THE BAGEL NOOK FRANCHISING LLC
Incorporated in
New Jersey
HQ
44 Crocus Drive, Manalapan, NJ 07726
Auditor
Frendel, Brown & Weissman LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$143K
vs $225K 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 The Bagel Nook unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,500,000
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: $603K–$1.2M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$25K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

25%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$225K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$909K
Payback
48 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 The Bagel Nook units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

40.6%

5.49× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.10×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$3.4M

on $12.0M purchase

Total debt

$8.6M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($6.0M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate quick-service bagel shops, managing food preparation, customer service, inventory, and staff scheduling. Daily operations involve baking/toasting bagels, preparing breakfast/lunch items, managing point-of-sale systems, and maintaining health/safety compliance in a small retail footprint.

CEO
David Berkowitz
Founded
2017
FDD year
2024
States available
2

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$603K – $1.2M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $25K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
6.0%
Gross Revenues · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.5M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
Item 19 type
Gross Sales
Sample size
2 units
vs category median 37 · small
Range (low → high)
$1.4M$1.6M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
3 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · below
Revenue rank40th
vs Food & Beverage - Quick Service peers
Investment cost rank87th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank46th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank14th
vs Food & Beverage - Quick Service peers
Risk score rank56th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
4
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
75%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
25.0%
Net growth (yr3)
+50.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+200.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
3+1
Franchised units
2023
2
Franchised units
2024
1
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 18 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 · 18 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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

63
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE63 / 100

The Bagel Nook presents CAUTION-level risk: a micro-franchise with unproven economics (no Item 19), franchisor financial concerns (going concern=false), and insufficient unit density to validate the business model.

Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI validation despite $1.5M average revenue claim
  2. 02MINOROnly 4 units in system with 50% YoY growth indicates extremely early-stage franchise with unproven model
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, suggesting potential financial instability at franchisor level
  4. 04MINORHigh investment range ($603K-$1.16M) with 6% royalty requires $90K+ annual revenue just to break even on fees
  5. 05MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (10 years typical), limiting franchisee ROI window
  6. 06HIGHLack of litigation disclosure combined with going concern flag raises transparency concerns

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 on demographics and zip codes
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
No
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
New Jersey

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
7 hrs
On-the-job training
40 hrs
POS system
Clover POS
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

20 numbers

Locked
(732) 780-••••
Limor Feldman
NJ
(609) 356-••••
Alfred Caso, Greg Caso, Al JR. Caso
NJ
(702) 780-••••
Jordan Fiskenbaum
NV

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

The Bagel Nook · FDD (2024) PDF

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