Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 641604
Dave's Hot Chicken franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Dave's Hot Chicken cost $823,800 to $4,121,900 in the 2026 FDD; the franchisor gives no unit revenue figure; 4.5% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Dave's Hot Chicken Franchise Co. SPV LLC. FDD issued 2026-05-04. Fiscal year end 2025-12-31. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-03.
What a unit costs to open
Freestanding Locations, Traditional Restaurants. In-Line and Endcap (Traditional and Non-Traditional) table: $616,800 to $2,632,500 (p.30-31). A food-truck table follows.
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $40,000 | Item 5, p. 16 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | Continuing Royalty 6% of Gross Sales, weekly | Item 6, p. 18 |
| Advertising fund | Creative Fund Contribution currently 4% of weekly Gross Sales (may rise to 5%), plus 1% required local advertising | Item 6, p. 18 |
Traditional or Non-Traditional Restaurant; $20,000 for a DHC Food Truck.
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.
No Item 19. Dave's Hot Chicken's 2026 FDD makes no financial performance representation (Item 19, p. 73). The revenue-to-investment ratio is undefined for this brand.
Revenue to investment
Undefined: no Item 19.
How many units open and close
| Franchised units | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of year | 88 | 157 | 233 |
| Opened | 70 | 77 | 117 |
| Terminated | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Not renewed | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| End of year | 157 | 233 | 348 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 6 | 5 | 10 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 74; Table 3 totals p. 78.
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.
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Dave's Hot Chicken Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-05-04, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 641604, 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.
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.