Highlights
- Opening one unit is estimated at $317,521 to $3,463,155, including a $10,000 initial fee.p.43
- Chick-fil-A discloses unit performance in Item 19: average annual sales volume of $9,161,239.p.83
- The system went from 2,411 outlets at the start of 2023 to 2,863 at the end of 2025, a net gain of 452.p.86
- In 2025, closures of all kinds equalled 4.1% of the outlets open at the start of the year.
- Item 3 discloses 0 matters.p.24
Tools, from this filing's numbers
Cash you would need to open
The filing's Item 7 range, $317,521 to $3,463,155, is an estimate for one unit including only its first months. Slide between the low and high cases and add the months of runway you want beyond that.
Monthly operating cash is taken as one-twelfth of your weekly-sales figure above times 52 (set to $15,000 a week here), a placeholder for rent, labor and food until you have your own budget.
Where the units went in 2025
Every outlet that opened, and every one that left, drawn from Item 20 Table 3 to scale.p.92
Total outlets, 2022 to 2025
Compare Chick-fil-A with another brand
Side by side, every figure cited.
Fees (Items 5 and 6)
| Initial franchise fee, standard | $10,000 | p.26 |
| Royalty | not stated | |
| Advertising fund | not stated | |
| Technology fee | $9,500 to $20,000 (annually) | p.31 |
The filing lists every recurring and conditional fee in Item 6. The report carries all of them.
Estimated initial investment (Item 7)
| Expenditure | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $10,000 | $10,000 | p.43 |
| Opening Inventory | $22,950 | $107,000 | p.43 |
| First Month's Rental of Equipment | $750 | $5,000 | p.43 |
| First Month's Lease/Sublease of Premises | $3,500 | $100,655 | p.43 |
| First Month's Insurance Expense | $321 | $22,500 | p.43 |
| Additional Funds | $280,000 | $3,463,155 | p.43 |
| Total | $317,521 | $3,463,155 | p.43 |
Revenue (Item 19)
Chick-fil-A reports average annual sales volume of $9,161,239 across 2302 outlets.p.84 What the figure measures, which units were excluded and what it leaves out are in the report.
Units (Item 20)
| Type | Year | Start | End | Net | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| franchised | 2023 | 2,331 | 2,494 | 163 | p.86 |
| company owned | 2023 | 80 | 58 | -22 | p.86 |
| total | 2023 | 2,411 | 2,552 | 141 | p.86 |
| franchised | 2024 | 2,494 | 2,629 | 135 | p.86 |
| company owned | 2024 | 58 | 55 | -3 | p.86 |
| total | 2024 | 2,552 | 2,684 | 132 | p.86 |
| franchised | 2025 | 2,624 | 2,795 | 171 | p.86 |
| company owned | 2025 | 60 | 68 | 8 | p.86 |
| total | 2025 | 2,684 | 2,863 | 179 | p.86 |
Openings and closures, system totals (Table 3)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2,331 | 255 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 8 | 2,494 | p.92 |
| 2024 | 2,494 | 243 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 6 | 2,629 | p.92 |
| 2025 | 2,624 | 278 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 8 | 2,795 | p.92 |
Arithmetic checks flagged: item7: high lines sum to 3708310, total says 3463155. The figures shown are as filed.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 pending cases described.p.24 0 cases brought by franchisees or former franchisees.p.25 Counts are of distinct matters as the filing describes them; the report carries each one in plain words.
Scorecard
Rank among the brands on this site that report the figure, on each list's own direction. No blended grade. How the lists work.
| Cost to open | $317,521 | 32 of 74 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | held | held |
| Three-year unit growth | 18.7% | 15 of 75 |
| Closure rate, 2025 | 4.1% | 26 of 71, 1 = most |
| Discloses unit revenue | yes | |
| Litigation disclosed | 0 | 68 of 68, 1 = most |
Source
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 640825, effective 4/6/2026, expires 4/6/2027. Extracted 2026-09-06 by two independent readers; only figures both agreed on, whose quoted words appear on the cited page, are shown. 3 fields held for review. How this works.