Long John Silver's Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 1969

Franchising Since: 1969

Headquarters: Louisville, Kentucky

Estimated Number of Units: 485

Franchise Description: The franchisor is Long John Silver’s, LLC. Long John Silver's (LJS) restaurants offer a limited menu featuring fish, seafood, chicken and related items, including hushpuppies, crumblies, and distinctive sea-shares, platters, and combo meals. The restaurants are designed to serve food promptly and offer dine-in, take-out and in a significant number of restaurants, drive-thru service (where available). The restaurant must be built to the franchisor’s specifications and operated in accordance with LJS’s standards.
Training Overview: For traditional restaurants, the franchisor certifies franchisee-owned training units at locations determined by the franchisor for training and those of the franchisee’s employees as it deems necessary. Training is currently conducted at franchisee-owned restaurants and at meeting facilities such as hotels and/or convention centers at various locations throughout the United States. The franchisor will provide a pre-opening management training program at locations and for periods of time as it designates. Four managers for a traditional restaurant must be certified by completing training in a certified LJS training restaurant to the franchisor’s satisfaction within 30 days before opening. The franchisee or “above restaurant leader” must also attend training if they are not a manager. The franchisor may require and provide refresher courses and retraining programs for the franchisee’s executive, managerial, supervisory and other employees as designated by the franchisor. Additional training classes may be offered or required for restaurant management teams and above store managers. The franchisor may, from time to time, conduct conferences, conventions, summits, programs, webinars, teleconferences, or training sessions on any matters related to the system. The operating principal or the general manager and other personnel the franchisor designates must attend.

Territory Granted: Franchisees of traditional restaurants will be authorized to operate one restaurant at a specified address. The franchisor determines the territory for traditional restaurants in its sole discretion and may base its determination on anticipated customer counts and other factors. The territory for a traditional restaurant is typically a 1.5 mile radius from the traditional restaurant. If a traditional restaurant is in a convenience and gas store, the territory is generally a one mile radius from the restaurant. Non-traditional restaurants will solely be permitted to operate in the specific non-traditional location designated in the Franchise Agreement and Non-Traditional Restaurant addendum.

Obligations and Restrictions: If franchisees are part of a group of individuals or an entity, they are required to designate one individual as the “managing owner.” While franchisees do not have to participate personally in the direct operation of the restaurant, they will also need to designate an “principal operating owner,” who will be required to dedicate their full time and effort to the supervision and operation of the restaurants the franchisee develops and operates and live within the geographic area where the restaurants are located. Such person must have at least 5% equity in the entity that owns and operates the LJS restaurants. The principal operating owner and the managing owner can be the same person. The managing owner, principal operating owner, and the principal manager, along with each LJS restaurant general manager and other of the employees as the franchisor designates, must successfully complete LJS’s training programs as designated by the franchisor. Franchisees may sell only those food and beverage products that the franchisor designates in the operations manual and meet the standards contained in the operations manual.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of the initial franchise term for a is generally 20 years with two five-year options or concurrent with the lease term not to exceed a total of 30 years. Renewal terms are subject to the franchisee being in good standing and complying with renewal conditions.

Financial Assistance: The franchisor does not offer, directly or indirectly, any arrangements for financing the franchisee’s initial investment or the continuing operation of the Long John Silver’s business. The franchisor does not guarantee a franchisee’s note, lease or obligation. Should the franchisee qualify (as the franchisor solely determines) for any incentive programs or other sales promotions the franchisor is then offering in connection with sales of new franchises, or accelerated openings of franchises not yet opened (as the case may be), then the initial franchise fee or other applicable amounts due under the Franchise Agreement may be reduced according to conditions of that promotional offer.

Estimated Initial Investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Initial Franchise Fee	$20,000	$35,000
Real Estate/Lease Expenses	Varies
Construction Costs/Upfitting Costs	$250,000	$3,000,000
Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment	$175,000	$350,000
Signage/Awnings	$20,000	$200,000
Computer Systems and Digital Technology	$90,000	$125,000
Pre-Opening Salaries, Training, and Assistance	$72,500	$115,000
Start-up Inventory	$10,000	$35,000
Grand Opening Advertising Fee	$0	$20,000
Soft Costs	$3,000	$150,000
Additional Funds (3 months)	$50,000	$130,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL (excluding real estate costs)	$690,500	$4,160,000

 
Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
Royalty	5% of gross receipts for traditional restaurants. 6% of gross receipts for non-traditional restaurants.
Advertising	5% of gross receipts for traditional restaurants. 1% of gross receipts for non-traditional restaurants.
Cost of Testing Products and Equipment	The franchisor’s actual costs.
Transfer	$5,000 per Franchise Agreement transferred. Cost varies if transferring multiple Franchise Agreements.
Audit	Costs and expenses of audit, and interest of (i) the maximum permitted by Kentucky law or (ii) 1.5% per month from the due date until paid on any understated or underpaid amount, if understatement or underpayment is 3% or more.
Late Fee	The lesser of (i) the maximum permitted by Kentucky law or (ii) 1.5% per month from the due date until paid.
Indemnification	Will vary.
Attorney's Fees and Costs	The franchisor’s actual costs.
Liquidated Damages	Amount equal to the gross receipts for the 12 month period immediately preceding the termination or breach multiplied by a factor equal to two times the royalty rate.
Insurance Premiums	Will vary.
Technology and Support Services Agreement Fees	Up to $6,000 annual charges.
Digital Transaction Fee	3.5% of gross receipts of all digital transactions.
Food Safety Audits	The franchisor may cause a third party vendor to conduct food safety audits of the restaurant. The franchisor currently does not charge franchisees any fees for the first assessment, but franchisees will be required to pay for reassessments after a failure and in the case of a refused entry.
Voice of the Customer	$288-$400 annual charges per restaurant.
Rent	Variable.

The above information has been compiled from the FDD of Long John Silver's. Year of FDD: 2025.
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