FranchiseVerdict
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FV-02983·MODERATEStandard76

Winzer

OtherFranchising since 1991Website
Investment
$6K – $16K
2nd pct Other
Avg revenue
50th pct Other
Royalty
8.0%
49th pct Other
Units
263
90th pct Other
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $6K – $16K including a $4K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 61/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 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

Legal entity
Winzer Franchise Company, Inc.
Parent company
Winzer Corporation
Incorporated in
Texas
HQ
4060 E. Plano Parkway, Plano, Texas 75074-1800
Auditor
Baker Tilly US, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$106.3M
vs $105.1M prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2025
Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.

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 Winzer unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $6K–$16K
Working capital
$
Item 7 didn't break this out — defaulted to ~10% of annual revenue

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

914%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%
ROIC above 100% usually means the revenue figure is a system-wide aggregate or top-cohort number rather than a single-unit average. Verify the "Revenue · per unit" field against the brand's FDD Item 19 detail tables before relying on this output.

Store EBITDA · annual
$113K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$12K
Payback
1 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.

Overview

About

Winzer franchisees operate wine-related retail and/or service businesses (exact model unclear from limited data). Day-to-day operations likely involve inventory management, customer service, sales transactions, and compliance with wine regulations, though specific operational scope requires clarification.

CEO
John (Trey) B. Smart III
Founded
1977
FDD year
2025
States available
40

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$6K – $16K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$0 – $3K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$4K
Royalty
8.0%
Service Fee · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
0.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
263
Opened
16
Last reporting year
Closed
27
Turnover rate
10.3%
Company-owned
7
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
97%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-4.1%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-6.9%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
256-11
Franchised units
2024
267
Franchised units
2025
275
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 18 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 · 18 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
2
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

61
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE61 / 100

Winzer presents meaningful risk due to declining unit count, absent financial disclosure, unprotected territory, and unclear royalty structure that obscures true profitability potential.

Score breakdown · what drove the 61 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDUnit count declined 4.1% YoY (263 units) suggesting system contraction and potential market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
  2. 02MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosure (missing Item 19) prevents ROI validation and profitability assessment
  3. 03MINORWide royalty range (8-16% of gross profits) lacks transparency on how rates are determined and what triggers higher tier
  4. 04MINORNo protected territory creates direct competition risk from other franchisees and cannibalization potential
  5. 05MINORLow franchise fee ($3,500) relative to total investment ($5,950-$16,153) suggests 59-71% of costs are in startup capital with unclear allocation and ROI timeline
  6. 06MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (typically 10 years), creating renewal uncertainty and limiting time to recoup investment

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Customer-centered
Protected territory
No
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Not allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
No
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Texas

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
12 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
Winzer Software
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

100 numbers

Locked
(612) 436-••••
South Ninth Street, Suite
MN
(214) 341-••••
Plano Parkway, Plano, Texas
TX
(480) 390-••••
AZ

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Winzer · FDD (2025) PDF

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