Toppers Pizza Franchise Costs, Fees & FDD

Year Business Began: 1992

Franchising Since: 2000

Headquarters: Whitewater, Wisconsin

Estimated Number of Units: 70

Franchise Description: Toppers Pizza, LLC is the franchisor. Franchisees operate a Toppers Pizza restaurant that offers on-premises, carry-out and delivery of pizza, breadsticks, and other related premium food and beverage products. The franchisor also offers area development opportunities in select markets.
Training Overview: The franchisor will provide investor-owner training to franchisees (or all of their direct and indirect owners if an entity) and their restaurant manager (if applicable). Investor-owner training generally consists of a two-week program that takes place at the franchisor’s headquarters in Whitewater, Wisconsin, or another suitable location the franchisor chooses. The initial training program currently consists of approximately 306 hours of in-store operations and management training at a designated training restaurant and approximately 78 hours of classroom, administrative, and leadership training. Depending on the franchisee’s experience, the franchisor may provide franchisees with 7 to 28 days of opening support and on-site training (or 7 to 14 days if franchisees or an affiliate already operates a restaurant). This support and training will be provided on an “as needed” basis as determined by the franchisor. The franchisor may occasionally provide (or authorize third parties to provide) supplementary training courses or programs at locations selected by the franchisor with regard to new procedures or programs.

Territory Granted: The franchisor will not operate, or franchise or license others to operate, a Toppers Pizza restaurant located within the franchisee’s “protected area.” In general, the protected area is that area within a circle with a 1/2-mile radius having the restaurant’s location at its center, assuming there are at least 30,000 households located within such area. If there are fewer than 30,000 households in such area at the time franchisees sign the Franchise Agreement, then the radius of the circle will be extended by 1/8-mile increments until there are either (i) 30,000 households in the area, or the area has a radius of 1 mile. The franchisor will establish a “delivery area” for franchisees, outside of which they may not offer delivery service. The franchisor will have the right to adjust, modify, and change the boundaries of the delivery area to account for changing market conditions, population changes and other relevant considerations such as the existence of non-traditional venues.

Obligations and Restrictions: If franchisees operate a single restaurant, one of their principals with at least a 10% ownership interest in the franchise must personally manage and supervise the operation of the Toppers Pizza restaurant. This principal will be designated the “managing partner.” The managing partner must have successfully completed the initial management training program. The managing partner must devote his or her full time and best efforts to the management of the restaurant. The franchisor must approve all goods and services that franchisees offer for sale. Franchisees are required to offer certain goods and services, which will be specified in the operations manual and are subject to change. Franchisees are only authorized to sell goods and services approved by the franchisor.

Term of Agreement and Renewal: The length of initial franchise term is 10 years. Franchisees may renew, if they are in good standing, for up to two additional five-year terms.

Financial Assistance: The franchisor currently provides financing to franchisees that qualify for the sponsorship program for its $15,000 reduced initial franchise fee and an amount that it determines, based on the franchisee’s need, up to $100,000 toward their initial investment in the restaurant. Except as described, the franchisor does not offer direct or indirect financing. The franchisor does not guarantee a franchisee’s promissory notes, mortgages, leases or other obligations.

Estimated Initial Investment

Name of Fee	Low	High
Initial Franchise Fee	$30,000	$30,000
Travel & Living Expenses for Initial Training	$3,000	$17,000
Travel & Living Expenses for the Franchisor’s Training Team	$1,000	$15,000
Equipment & Smallwares	$125,000	$155,000
Construction & Leasehold Improvements	$266,400	$296,785
Indoor & Outdoor Signage	$7,500	$11,000
Pre-opening Salaries & Payroll	$4,500	$11,000
Pre-opening Rent	$0	$12,000
Utility & Insurance Deposits	$2,000	$6,000
Initial Marketing Program	$4,000	$13,000
Opening Inventory	$6,000	$11,000
Architectural Fees	$13,000	$20,000
Permits and Professional Fees	$2,100	$4,500
POS System Hardware	$16,000	$18,000
POS System Software Licenses	$2,500	$2,500
POS System Installation	$2,000	$5,000
Project Management	$0	$7,500
Opening Extension Fee	$0	$5,000
Additional Funds	$25,000	$50,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL	$510,000	$690,285

 
Other Fees

Type of Fee	Amount
Continuing Royalty	5.5% of gross sales.
Brand Development Fund Fee	Currently 3.0% of gross sales.
Additional Investor-Owner Training	$300 to $500 per day for each trainee, plus travel and living expenses.
Additional Initial Training	$300 to $500 per day for each trainee, plus travel and living expenses.
Initial On-Site Training, Marketing, and Opening Support	Actual travel and living expenses for the franchisor’s training personnel sent to the restaurant.
Additional On-Site Training	$300 to $500 per day, plus actual travel and living expenses incurred by the trainers the franchisor sends.
Optional Supplementary Training	Training fee to be established, and all travel and living expenses.
Relocation Review Fee	$1,500
Transfer Fee	$10,000 if the proposed transfer is to a new franchisee who is not currently operating a Toppers Pizza restaurant; otherwise, $5,000 if the proposed transfer is to a franchisee who is currently operating a Toppers Pizza restaurant.
Interest	18% per year or the highest commercial lending rate that the law allows on amounts owed to the franchisor or to its affiliates that are considered delinquent.
Audit Costs and Interest	Cost of audit plus a percentage of interest on underpayments.
Testing and Evaluation Fee	The then-current fee. (Currently, the fee will not exceed the actual cost of the test.)
Contributions to a Cooperative	Not currently charged.
Technology Fee	Currently, 2% of the online gross sales. The franchisor may increase the technology fee to a maximum of 2.5% of the online gross sales.
POS System Fees	Currently, $208.33 per month.
Inspection	The greater of $500 or the actual cost of re-inspection if the franchisee fails an inspection.
Quality and Service Training	Currently $300 to $500 per person, plus travel and living expenses.
Additional Printed Materials	Cost of any printed materials ordered on the franchisee’s behalf plus delivery fees. The materials ordered on the franchisee’s behalf will typically cost between $100 and $200.
Costs and Attorneys' Fees	Will vary under circumstances.
Indemnification	Will vary under circumstances.
Insurance Premiums / Rent	Will vary under circumstances.
Damages	Will vary under circumstances.
Interim Operations	The direct out-of-pocket costs and expenses plus 10% of gross sales if the franchisor assumes interim operations due to their failure to comply with the Franchise Agreement.
Franchisor’s Cure of Franchisee’s Default	Will vary under circumstances.
Non-Compliance Fee	$100 per day of non-compliance.

The above information has been compiled from the FDD of Toppers Pizza. Year of FDD: 2025.
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