Question 1

Is Auntie Anne's or Shipley Do-Nuts cheaper to open?

Accepted Answer

Auntie Anne's costs $157,795–$835,500 and Shipley Do-Nuts costs $503,461–$1,024,946 to open (FDD Item 7). Auntie Anne's has the lower entry cost.

Question 2

Which earns more, Auntie Anne's or Shipley Do-Nuts?

Accepted Answer

Auntie Anne's reports $792,496 average annual unit revenue vs $928,180 for Shipley Do-Nuts (FDD Item 19). Shipley Do-Nuts is higher. For Auntie Anne's: Reported for a subset of outlets rather than the whole system; Reported as net sales, not gross sales.

Question 3

Which is safer, Auntie Anne's or Shipley Do-Nuts?

Accepted Answer

SBA 7(a) charge-off rate is 4.7% for Auntie Anne's and 0.0% for Shipley Do-Nuts. Lower is safer, so Shipley Do-Nuts has the stronger loan-repayment record.

Question 4

Which is the better franchise, Auntie Anne's or Shipley Do-Nuts?

Accepted Answer

FranchiseVerdict grades Auntie Anne's A and Shipley Do-Nuts A, from FDD Items 5–7, 19–21 and SBA loan performance. See the full side-by-side above.

Metric	Auntie Anne's	Shipley Do-Nuts
Verdict Grade	AStrongest tierStrongest tier	AStrongest tierStrongest tier
Investment Range	$158K – $836K	$503K – $1.0M
Franchise Fee	$36K	$40K
Royalty Rate	7.0%	5.0%
Average Revenue (Item 19)	$792KOutlet subset	$928K
SBA Charge-Off Rate	4.7% (78 loans)	0.0% (27 loans)
Total Units	1,247	366
Unit Growth (YoY)	N/A	N/A
Year Began Franchising	2017	2020
FDD Year	2026	2025

Auntie Anne's vs Shipley Do-Nuts