Uptown Cheapskate
Bottom line
- Total investment $328K – $597K including a $25K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.3M/year (median $1.3M). Estimated payback in 2.5 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 44/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 175 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
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 Uptown Cheapskate unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
24%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Uptown Cheapskate units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$639K
on $3.2M purchase
Total debt
$2.6M
SBA $1.6M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Uptown Cheapskate is a secondhand/consignment retail franchise operating physical storefronts that buy, sell, and consign used clothing, accessories, and home goods. Franchisees manage inventory acquisition, store operations, customer service, and local marketing while leveraging the brand's supply chain relationships and operational systems to maximize margins on resale merchandise.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 22 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 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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Moderate-to-caution risk profile: litigation history indicating support gaps and earnings claim issues, combined with high capital requirements relative to average profitability, warrant careful validation of current support systems and franchisee satisfaction.
Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 rating
- 01HIGH2014-2015 litigation alleging unlawful earnings claims and inadequate franchisee support, resulting in $186,750 liability judgment against franchisor
- 02MINORFranchisor failed in fiduciary duty to advise franchisee on lease negotiations, indicating potential systemic support gaps
- 03MINOR11.2% YoY unit growth is modest for a 143-unit system; insufficient data on unit profitability consistency across portfolio
- 04MINORHigh investment-to-net-income ratio: $328K-$596.5K initial cost against $188K average net income suggests 1.7-3.2 year payback period with execution risk
- 05MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representation provided; averages may mask significant variation in franchisee outcomes
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Uptown Cheapskate · FDD (2025) PDF