Tommy’s ExpressFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Tommy’s Express franchise requires a total initial investment of $4.9M – $9.3M, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.8M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 23 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2024 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $4.9M – $9.3M
- 85th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.8M
- 48th pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 2nd pct Cleaning & Ma…
- Units
- 175
- 71st pct Cleaning & Ma…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Cleaning & Maintenance · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Cleaning & Maintenance avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
At 0.3x revenue per dollar invested, this system underperforms the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Only 0.0% of 23 SBA loans charged off, well below the 16% franchise average.
The system grew 35% year-over-year. Fast growth means demand, but can strain support.
Bottom line
- Total investment $4.9M – $9.3M including a $50K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.8M/year.
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 31/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 23 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- Bankruptcy history disclosed in the FDD. Review Item 4 for details before proceeding.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Tommy’s Express LLC
- Parent company
- Tommy Enterprises, Inc.
- Incorporated in
- MI
- HQ
- 648 South Point Ridge, Holland, Michigan 49423
- Auditor
- Doeren Mayhew
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $14.2M
- vs $17.6M prior year
Overview
About
Tommy's Express franchisees operate fast-lube automotive service centers providing oil changes, fluid top-offs, tire rotations, and basic maintenance. Daily operations include customer check-in, vehicle servicing, parts inventory management, staff scheduling, and quality control. Franchisees manage 3–8 service bays and typically employ 5–12 technicians.
- CEO
- Alex Lemmen
- Headquarters
- MI
- Founded
- 2015
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 30
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50K | $50K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $75K | $75K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $4.8M | $9.1M |
| Total initial investment | $4.9M | $9.3M |
Source: Tommy’s Express 2024 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
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
$250K
14.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
3%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
28.7 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $4.9M – $9.3M
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $75K – $75K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $50K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 5.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $10K |
| Transfer fee | $25K |
| Renewal fee | $3K |
| Total fee load | 5.0% of rev |
A 5.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.8M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- N/A
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 123 units
- vs category median 31 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $348K→$4.2M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 6 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 204 Cleaning & Maintenance brands
Revenue is only 0.3x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Cleaning & Maintenance averages
How Tommy’s Express Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 175
- Opened
- 43
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 9
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 95%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +35.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +110.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 4
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 19 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).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 23
- Loan volume
- $82.8M
- Median loan
- $4.3M
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 10
- Defaults
- 0
Vintage analysis
Tommy’s Express charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 23 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Regulatory violations, hidden profitability metrics, and aggressive expansion create elevated risk despite strong unit growth and protected territories.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Disclosed in last 7 years
BANKRUPTCY ...................................................................................................................................................... 16
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Doeren Mayhew
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 31 / 100 rating
- 01MINORMulti-state regulatory consent orders for unregistered franchise sales and disclosure violations indicate compliance failures at corporate level
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 makes ROI impossible to verify; avg revenue of $1.79M means high operating costs are unknown
- 03MINORAggressive 35% YoY unit growth (175 units) suggests rapid expansion that may outpace operational support and quality control
- 04MEDHigh initial investment range ($4.9M–$9.3M) combined with undisclosed profitability creates significant financial risk
- 05HIGHOfficer bankruptcy not initially disclosed, then revealed only through regulatory action, indicates governance and transparency issues
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 20 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 3 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| 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 | 15 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Michigan |
| Litigation count | 3 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 60 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 180 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Tommy’s proprietary point-of-sale system
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Tommy’s proprietary point-of-sale system
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
100 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Tommy’s Express · FDD (2024) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Tommy’s Express franchise?
The total investment to open a Tommy’s Express franchise ranges from $4.9M – $9.3M, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Tommy’s Express franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Tommy’s Express FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.8M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Tommy’s Express's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Tommy’s Express has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 23 loans, meaning 0.0% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Tommy’s Express franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Tommy’s Express has 175 total units in the United States, including 79 franchised units and 9 company-owned units. 43 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Tommy’s Express a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Tommy’s Express as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 31 out of 100, 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
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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.