Wild Birds Unlimited Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Wild Birds Unlimited is a specialty-retail franchise selling bird seed, feeders, baths, and backyard-birding supplies. Franchisees run neighborhood stores managing inventory, merchandising, and repeat hobbyist customers.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED franchise requires a total initial investment of $227K – $379K, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $858K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 4.0% charge-off rate across 161 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $227K – $379K
- 26th pct Retail
- Avg gross sales
- $858K
- 10th pct Retail
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 4th pct Retail
- Units
- 341
- 39th pct Retail
- SBA charge-off
- 4.0%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Retail · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Retail 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 $227K – $379K including a $40K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $858K/year (median $773K), with an estimated 27% cash-on-cash return (based on Average Owner's Discretionary Cash Flow).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 84/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 4.0% across 161 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
- Wild Birds Unlimited, Inc.
- CEO title
- Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer
- James R. Carpenter
- Incorporated in
- Indiana
- HQ
- 11711 N. College Avenue, Suite 146, Carmel, Indiana 46032
- Auditor
- Katz, Sapper & Miller, LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $18.8M
- vs $20.7M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
- CEO
- James R. Carpenter
- Headquarters
- IN
- Founded
- 1983
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 44
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 27% below the typical retail franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown38 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $40K | $40K | |
| Training | $5K | $5K | |
| Travel, Meals, Lodging | $500 | $6K | |
| Lease Deposit | $4K | $8K | |
| First Month's Rent | $4K | $8K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $27K | $106K | |
| Insurance | $2K | $4K | |
| Legal/Accounting | $750 | $7K | |
| Office Equipment | $13K | $14K | |
| Signs | $3K | $10K | |
| Advertising | $7K | $13K | |
| Retail Fixtures | $22K | $34K | |
| Opening Inventory | $40K | $49K | |
| Technology | $2K | $2K | |
| Misc. Expenses | $6K | $11K | |
| Additional Funds for first 3 months | $52K | $63K | |
| Initial Franchise Fee (Existing Franchisee - Additional New Store) | $20K | $20K | |
| Training (Existing Franchisee - Additional New Store) | — | — | |
| Travel, Meals, Lodging (Existing Franchisee - Additional New Store) | $500 | $3K | |
| Lease Deposit (Existing Franchisee - Additional New Store) | $4K | $8K | |
| Total initial investment | $467K | $751K |
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
- $227K – $379K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $52K – $63K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Top 40% of category 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
- Payback period
- 3.7 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $350 |
| Transfer fee | $20K |
| Renewal fee | $0 |
| 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.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 11% below the retail norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · 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
$86K
10.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
24%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
4.2 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
FDD-reported earnings vs. model
The FDD reports $150K as Average Owner's Discretionary Cash Flow. Our model estimates $86K SLEBITDA from the same revenue using category-average cost assumptions. These numbers differ because Average Owner's Discretionary Cash Flow 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 WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
24%
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 WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$515K
on $2.6M purchase
Total debt
$2.1M
SBA $1.3M + 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: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $858K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $773K
- Avg average owner's discretionary cash flow
- $150K
- Reported as Average Owner's Discretionary Cash Flow in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 27.2%
- Based on Average Owner's Discretionary Cash Flow / 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 actual - Gross Sales, Same-Store Sales Change, COGS %, Advertising/Wages %, Owner's Discretionary Cash Flow, DSC customer data
- Sample size
- 320
- vs category median 47 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $169K→$2.7M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 9 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · above
Compared against 278 Retail 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 $858K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 2.8x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 5.0% — below the Retail average of 8.9%.
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 roughly stable (+2.7% 3-year CAGR) with 341 units.
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 Retail averages
How Wild Birds Unlimited Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 341
- Opened
- 7
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 6
- Turnover rate
- 1.8%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +2.7%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +2.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 15
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 44 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 161
- Loan volume
- $35.0M
- Median loan
- $127K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 4.0%
- 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)
- 95.9%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 71
- Defaults
- 4
- Typical loan rate
- 7.0%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 24.6%
- brand beats franchise avg ↓
- Jobs supported
- 609
- 1.9 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 11%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 40% went to startups / new businesses, 60% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in pet and pet supplies stores, franchised businesses charge off at 24.6% vs 23.3% for independents — franchising is associated with 6% higher SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
Wild Birds Unlimited charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Wild Birds Unlimited franchisees
Showing 3 of 71 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.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Wild Birds Unlimited's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 33-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 4.0% — 75% 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
Established 341-unit retailer (since 1983) with negative franchisor equity of -$6.09M, but strongly profitable ($2.83M net income) on $20.7M revenue and audited with Item 19. No litigation or bankruptcy. Negative equity is the single concern, offset by solid earnings.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
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 · Katz, Sapper & Miller, LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 84 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORNegative franchisor net worth of -$6,093,320
- 02MINORStrongly profitable: $2.83M net income on $20.7M revenue
- 03MINORNo litigation, no bankruptcy, no going-concern
- 04MEDAudited financials, Item 19 disclosed; stable +2.7% growth
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 5.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Territory type | Geographic |
| 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 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Indiana |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 72 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 45 hrs
- Training location
- On-site at franchisee's restaurant and franchisor's facility
- POS system
- ERPLY
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: ERPLY
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
362 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED franchise?
The total investment to open a WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED franchise ranges from $227K – $379K, 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 WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $858K. The median is $773K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED 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 WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED has a charge-off rate of 4.0% across 161 loans, meaning 4.0% 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 WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED has 341 total units in the United States, including 340 franchised units and 1 company-owned units. 7 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates WILD BIRDS UNLIMITED as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 84 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
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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.