FranchiseVerdict
Toppers Pizza logo
FV-02765·STRONGExcellent95

Toppers Pizza

Food & Beverage - PizzaFranchising since 2000Website
Investment
$484K – $719K
83rd pct Pizza
Avg revenue
$1.1M
27th pct Pizza
Royalty
5.5%
58th pct Pizza
Units
71
66th pct Pizza
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $484K – $719K including a $30K franchise fee, 5.5% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $1.1M). Estimated payback in 8.2 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 97 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Toppers Pizza LLC
Parent company
Toppers Pizza Holdings LLC
Incorporated in
Wisconsin
HQ
333 West Center Street, Whitewater, WI 53190
Auditor
Quandt Berndt & Company, LLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$9.6M
vs $10.6M 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 Toppers Pizza unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,114,844
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $484K–$719K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$50K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

17%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$106K
EBITDA margin
9.5%
Total invested
$639K
Payback
72 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 Toppers Pizza units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$557K

on $2.8M purchase

Total debt

$2.2M

SBA $1.4M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Toppers Pizza franchisees operate quick-service pizza restaurants, managing daily food preparation, customer service, delivery coordination, and staff oversight. Franchisees handle inventory management, local marketing, and P&L responsibility while adhering to brand standards for menu, pricing, and operations.

CEO
Adam Oldenburg
Founded
1992
FDD year
2024
States available
10

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$484K – $719K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $50K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
5.5%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
3.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.5%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
8.2 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.1M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.1M
Item 19 type
Gross Sales and Net Operating Income
Sample size
69 units
vs category median 40
Range (low → high)
$556K$2.2M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
10 / 5
vs category median 0 / 5 · above
Revenue rank27th
vs Food & Beverage - Pizza peers
Investment cost rank83th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank58th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank66th
vs Food & Beverage - Pizza peers
Risk score rank22th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
71
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
2
Turnover rate
2.8%
Company-owned
27
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
62%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-4.3%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+0.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
44-2
Franchised units
2023
46
Franchised units
2024
44
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 13 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 · 13 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
97
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

52
Risk · 0-100
STRONG52 / 100

Declining unit count, lack of verified financial data, and thin margins create meaningful execution risk despite no litigation history.

Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORUnit count declining 4.3% YoY (71 units) — indicates system contraction and potential franchisee struggles
  2. 02HIGHNo Item 19 financial performance representation (Going Concern = False) — cannot validate the $1.11M avg revenue claim independently
  3. 03MINORThin profit margins: $73,386 net income on $1.11M revenue (6.6% net) leaves little buffer for underperformers or economic downturns
  4. 04MINORHigh initial investment ($484K-$718K) paired with declining unit count raises ROI sustainability questions
  5. 05MINOR5.5% royalty on gross sales (not net) means franchisees pay royalties even in loss-making months

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
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Granted
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
Wisconsin

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
11 hrs
On-the-job training
267 hrs
POS system
PiZMET
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

54 numbers

Locked
(262) 993-••••
WI
(952) 746-••••
MN
(248) 238-••••
MI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Toppers Pizza · FDD (2024) PDF

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