Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 640423
Firehouse Subs franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Firehouse Subs cost $405,350 to $875,950 in the 2026 FDD; the median unit sold $938,981 in the franchisor's 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 figures; 6.9% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Firehouse of America LLC. FDD issued 2026-03-25. Fiscal year end 2025-12-31. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-03.
What a unit costs to open
Inline traditional facility; End Cap with Drive Thru $528,159 to $1,087,050; Free-standing with Drive Thru $767,950 to $1,577,750 (page 28).
Largest line: Leasehold improvements, $210,000 to $459,000 (Item 7, p. 26).
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $20,000 | Item 5, p. 16 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% of Gross Sales per accounting period, plus digital technology fees of $150 per month and 1% of Digital Sales | Item 6, p. 21 |
| Advertising fund | System Fund contribution not to exceed 5% of Gross Sales (currently 5%) | Item 6, p. 21 |
10-year term; plus a background check fee of up to $500.
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 | 2025 Annual AUV (annual sales volume), Counter Service franchised restaurants | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | 1,033 units: the 1,033 of 1,109 franchised counter-service (no drive-thru) restaurants continuously operated through 2025, in quartiles; the 35 free-standing drive-thru restaurants are reported separately (median $1,058,115) | |
| Period | 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 | |
| High / low | $3,523,523 / $154,410 | |
Revenue to investment
Formula: Item 19 counter-service median / Item 7 inline 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 | 1,149 | 1,170 | 1,206 |
| Opened | 47 | 62 | 73 |
| Terminated | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Not renewed | 6 | 9 | 15 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 20 | 14 | 9 |
| End of year | 1,170 | 1,206 | 1,249 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 39 | 42 | 42 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 73; Table 3 totals p. 81.
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.
United States excluding territories.
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Firehouse Subs Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-03-25, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 640423, 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.