Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 641100
Checkers franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Checkers cost $449,000 to $1,915,000 in the 2026 FDD; the median unit sold $1,102,416 in the franchisor's fiscal 2025 figures; 26.6% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc.. FDD issued 2026-04-17, amended 2026-09-23. Fiscal year end 2025-12-29. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-03.
What a unit costs to open
modular design drive-thru restaurant, exclusive of real estate; other formats: conversion of a drive-thru $619,000 to $1,492,000; site-built $767,500 to $1,705,000; endcap strip-center $309,000 to $1,134,250; in-line $651,500 to $1,055,250; non-traditional $214,000 to $736,000.
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $30,000 | Item 5, p. 17 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 4% of Net Sales (2% at a Non-Traditional Site), semi-monthly | Item 6, p. 21 |
| Advertising fund | National Production Fund currently 2.65% of Net Sales (up to 3%), within a 4.5% total advertising requirement | Item 6, p. 21 |
What a unit sells
Item 19 is optional and is the franchisor's own representation. It is shown here as filed, with the franchisor's measure, sample and period, and nothing is estimated where it is missing.
| Measure | Net Sales, fiscal 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | 320 units: franchised Checkers and Rally's restaurants in the Statement of Average Net Sales (company-owned 115, median $1,090,044); sub-tables by format follow | |
| Period | fiscal 2025 | |
| High / low | $3,102,720 / $197,376 | |
Revenue to investment
Formula: Item 19 franchised median / Item 7 modular drive-thru total (midpoint, low, high). A ratio of 1.00 means one year of median unit revenue equals the investment; it says nothing about profit.
How many units open and close
| Franchised units | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of year | 384 | 378 | 357 |
| Opened | 19 | 19 | 12 |
| Terminated | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Not renewed | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 25 | 40 | 37 |
| End of year | 378 | 357 | 332 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 126 | 123 | 121 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 77; Table 3 totals p. 82.
Closures are the franchisor's Item 20 counts of units terminated, not renewed, or ceased for other reasons, summed over 2023–2025 and divided by franchised units at the start of 2023. Units the franchisor reacquired are not closures. This is an Item 20 count, not a failure rate.
As filed: Table 3 ends 2023 at 378 and starts 2024 at 378 while Table 1 prints 377.
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Checkers Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-04-17 and amended 2026-09-23, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 641100, registry record). The PDF is the franchisor's and is not hosted here; the item and page beside each figure is where to check it. Item 7 and Item 20 tables were read cell by cell; Item 19 was read by hand; each Item 20 year was checked to sum (start + opened − exits = end) before it was recorded.
the Checkers FDD also covers Rally's; Item 20 prints separate Checkers and Rally's tables and this record is the Checkers set.
Informational only, not professional, legal or investment advice. Unitnomics computes from the filing and does not advise on, rank, or refer to any franchise. Last reviewed: November 2026.