Franchises · 2026 FDD · Wisconsin DFI filing 641718
Steak n Shake franchise cost, unit revenue and closures
Opening a Steak n Shake cost $1,242,909 to $2,691,425 in the 2026 FDD; the median unit sold $1,679,142 in the franchisor's 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 figures; 38.9% of franchised units closed over three years.
Franchisor: Steak n Shake Enterprises, Inc.. FDD issued 2026-05-08, amended 2026-08-19. Fiscal year end 2025-12-31. Figures re-found on the cited page 2026-11-03.
What a unit costs to open
Freestanding Quick-Service Format; In-line $885,295 to $1,384,524; non-traditional $316,000 to $715,000.
What a unit pays the franchisor
| Initial franchise fee | $35,000 | Item 5, p. 8 |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | Royalty and System Fee 5% of Gross Receipts, weekly (10% in markets with company-operated restaurants) | Item 6, p. 11 |
| Advertising fund | Digital and Production Fund Fee 1% of Gross Receipts, plus local advertising of at least 2% | Item 6, p. 11 |
Freestanding Quick-Service Format; $25,000 In-line Quick-Service Format.
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, Traditional Franchise Restaurants (Item A) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | 59 units: the 59 freestanding quick-service restaurants operated by traditional franchisees for fiscal 2025; the 155 Franchise Partner restaurants (median $2,012,542) and all 214 combined (median $1,895,351) are reported beside them | |
| Period | 2025-01-01 to 2025-12-31 | |
| High / low | $6,137,256 / $782,914 | |
Revenue to investment
Formula: Item 19 traditional-franchise median / Item 7 freestanding 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 | 131 | 111 | 93 |
| Opened | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Terminated | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Not renewed | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased, other reasons | 19 | 21 | 11 |
| End of year | 111 | 93 | 82 |
| Company-owned, end of year | 143 | 140 | 126 |
Item 20, Table 1 p. 74; Table 3 totals p. 83.
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.
traditional franchised outlets; Franchise Partner outlets (175, 181, 173, 179) are a separate table and are included in the total.
all three rows sum; the table also has an 'outlets sold to franchisee' column (0 in each year).
Source and method
Every figure above comes from the Steak n Shake Franchise Disclosure Document issued 2026-05-08 and amended 2026-08-19, as filed with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (filing 641718, 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.
Wisconsin holds two registrations: 641718 Traditional Franchise Program (this record) and 641719 Franchise Partner Program, the $10,000 operator-partner programme whose Item 19 reports partner earnings rather than unit sales; it is set aside.
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.