Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 640387
Popeyes franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Popeyes cost $1,222,045 to $3,923,245 in the 2026 FDD; the median unit sold $1,785,736 in the franchisor's 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 figures; 4.1% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc.. FDD issued 2026-03-20. Fiscal year end 2025-12-31. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-03.
What a unit costs to open
Free Standing column, excludes real estate; In-Line column $504,545 to $1,968,245.
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $50,000 | Item 5, p. 17 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 5% of Gross Sales, weekly | Item 6, p. 21 |
| Advertising fund | Advertising Contribution 4.6% to 5.0% of Gross Sales, plus co-op 0.5% to 1.75% (co-op capped at 2%) | Item 6, p. 21 |
MTRA deposit $25,000 per restaurant committed under a multiple target reservation agreement.
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 | annual sales, calendar 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | 2,248 units: Table I: franchised free-standing restaurants continuously operated for the 12 months ended 2025-12-31 (of 2,309 open at year end; 61 excluded, 52 of them for temporary closure); company-owned (90) and consolidated columns also given; Tables II-V cover in-line and other formats | |
| Period | 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 | |
| High / low | $5,931,837 / $492,576 | |
Revenue to investment
Formula: Item 19 Table I franchised median / Item 7 free-standing 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 | 2,905 | 3,035 | 3,079 |
| Opened | 165 | 136 | 104 |
| Terminated | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Not renewed | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 58 | 0 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 31 | 26 | 33 |
| End of year | 3,035 | 3,079 | 3,134 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 41 | 98 | 95 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 96; Table 3 totals p. 104.
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 Popeyes Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-03-20, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 640387, 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.