Wetzel’s Pretzels Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Wetzel's Pretzels is a snack franchise serving hand-rolled soft pretzels, dipping sauces, and lemonade. Franchisees run kiosks and small storefronts in malls, airports, and high-traffic venues, managing baking and quick service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Wetzel’s Pretzels franchise requires a total initial investment of $189K – $725K, including a $20K – $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 7.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $813K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 4.9% charge-off rate across 87 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $189K – $725K
- 21st pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $813K
- 11th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- 86th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 458
- 88th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- 4.9%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $189K – $725K including a $40K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $813K/year (median $670K), with an estimated 23% cash-on-cash return (based on Net Operating Income).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 85/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 4.9% across 87 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- FLAGBankruptcy history disclosed in the FDD. Review Item 4 for details before proceeding.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Wetzel's Pretzels, LLC
- Parent company
- MTY Franchising USA, Inc.
- Ultimate parent
- MTY Food Group, Inc.
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer of MTY (parent company)
- Eric Lefebvre
- Incorporated in
- California
- HQ
- 35 Hugus Alley, Suite 300, Pasadena, CA 91103
- Auditor
- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $597.5M
- vs $604.2M prior year
Affiliated brands
- acquired the rights to such franchised brand)
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Eric Lefebvre
- Headquarters
- CA
- Founded
- 1995
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 32
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 31% below the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown18 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $20K | $40K | |
| Lease Review Feenot refundable | $4K | $7K | |
| Business Premisesnot refundable | $5K | $25K | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $50K | $400K | |
| Food Preparation Equipmentnot refundable | $53K | $99K | |
| Utility Deposits, Licenses, Permits | $1K | $15K | |
| Insurance | $500 | $3K | |
| Signs & Menu Boardsnot refundable | $5K | $20K | |
| Digital Display Boardsnot refundable | $5K | $8K | |
| POS Systemnot refundable | $500 | $1K | |
| Initial Inventory & Smallwaresnot refundable | $8K | $12K | |
| Training Fee for Additional Traineenot refundable | $0 | $750 | |
| Training Expensesnot refundable | $1K | $5K | |
| Grand Opening Advertisingnot refundable | $500 | $5K | |
| Office Equipment & Suppliesnot refundable | $500 | $3K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $1K | $3K | |
| Architect, Engineers & Construction Managernot refundable | $10K | $24K | |
| Additional Funds - first 90 daysnot refundable | $25K | $56K | |
| Total initial investment | $189K | $725K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $189K – $725K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $25K – $56K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $20K – $40K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 7.0%
- Adjusted Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 37.5%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 4.4 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 7.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $29 |
| Transfer fee | $20K |
| Renewal fee | $50 |
| Total fee load | 37.5% of rev |
At 37.5% total fee load, roughly $305K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 33% below the quick-service restaurants norm.
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
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
$114K
14.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
23%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.4 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
FDD-reported earnings vs. model
The FDD reports $191K as Net Operating Income. Our model estimates $114K SLEBITDA from the same revenue using category-average cost assumptions. These numbers differ because Net Operating Income deducts different expense categories than our model.
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Wetzel’s Pretzels unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
23%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Wetzel’s Pretzels units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.1M
on $5.7M purchase
Total debt
$4.6M
SBA $2.8M + senior + seller note
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $813K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $670K
- Avg net operating income
- $191K
- Reported as Net Operating Income in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 23.0%
- Based on Net Operating Income / investment midpoint
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- historical financial performance (Adjusted Gross Revenue averages/medians/highs/lows by location format, plus expense benchmark for Regional/Outlet Mall subset)
- Sample size
- 295
- vs category median 20 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $72K→$2.8M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- Disclosed in the 2026 filing, covering 2025
- Transparency
- 9 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 782 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $813K/year in gross sales. Median is $670K — top performers pull the average up, so a typical unit earns less. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.8x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 37.5% — above the Quick-Service Restaurants average of 7.9%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 9/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 21.9% CAGR over 3 years across 458 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Wetzel’s Pretzels Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 458
- Opened
- 48
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 15
- Turnover rate
- 3.3%
- Company-owned
- 35
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 92%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +21.9%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +21.9%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 13
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 25 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
- California
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- New York
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
- 87
- Loan volume
- $35.0M
- Median loan
- $317K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 4.9%
- 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)
- 95.1%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 38
- Defaults
- 2
- Typical loan rate
- 7.3%
- avg rate to borrowers
- vs industry
- N/A
- NAICS 7225
- Jobs supported
- 1,211
- 3.5 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 14%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 0% went to startups / new businesses, 100% to established operators
Vintage analysis
Wetzel’s Pretzels charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Wetzel’s Pretzels franchisees
Showing 3 of 38 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 4.9% — 70% below the 16.0% national norm, i.e. lower lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Parent-level financials (MTY/Kahala) are strong at $271M net worth and $30.7M net income across 458 units. The 13 disclosed cases are largely historical affiliate-brand matters, not active franchisor litigation. Financials are parent-level, so brand-specific equity is not disclosed.
Litigation (Item 3)
3 case reference(s): 0 pending, 3 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $540,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
Disclosed in last 7 years
Bankruptcy Code; (b) obtained a discharge of its debts under the bankruptcy code; or (c) was a principal officer of a company or a general partner in a partnership that either filed as a debtor (or had filed against it) a petition to start an action under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or that obtained a
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
ⓘ These are the parent company's consolidated financials (the parent guarantees the franchisor), not this brand's standalone results — the figure reflects the whole corporate group, not this brand alone.
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 85 / 100 verdict
- 01MINOR13 cases but largely historical/affiliate MTY-Kahala matters
- 02MINORParent-level financials: $271M net worth, $30.7M net income
- 03MINORStrong 21.9% unit growth, 458 units
- 04MEDAudited financials, Item 19 disclosed
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 37.5% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | radius/location |
| 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 | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 6 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | your State |
| Litigation count | 18 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
3 case reference(s): 0 pending, 3 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 40 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 40 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
194 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Wetzel’s Pretzels · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Wetzel’s Pretzels franchise?
The total investment to open a Wetzel’s Pretzels franchise ranges from $189K – $725K, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Wetzel’s Pretzels franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Wetzel’s Pretzels FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $813K. The median is $670K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Wetzel’s Pretzels FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Wetzel’s Pretzels FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Wetzel’s Pretzels's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Wetzel’s Pretzels has a charge-off rate of 4.9% across 87 loans, meaning 4.9% 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 Wetzel’s Pretzels franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Wetzel’s Pretzels has 458 total units in the United States, including 423 franchised units and 35 company-owned units. 48 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Wetzel’s Pretzels a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Wetzel’s Pretzels as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 85 out of 100 (higher is better), 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
Are you the franchisor?
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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.