Highlights
- Every week, 6.5% of gross sales goes to the franchisor before rent, food or labor: royalty 4% of Gross Sales, advertising 2.5% of Gross Sales.p.13
- Opening one unit is estimated at $3,406,350 to $10,294,100, including a $65,000 initial fee.p.15
- Culver's discloses unit performance in Item 19: average sales of $4,142,737.p.36
- The system went from 892 outlets at the start of 2023 to 1,041 at the end of 2025, a net gain of 149.p.49
- In 2025, closures of all kinds equalled 0.1% of the outlets open at the start of the year.
- Item 3 discloses 0 matters.
Tools, from this filing's numbers
What Culver's takes off the top
Royalty 4% of Gross Sales plus advertising 2.5% of Gross Sales, applied to your own sales estimate. The rates are the filing's; the sales are yours.
Preset to the filing's Item 19 figure, $4,142,737 a year.p.37
Cash you would need to open
The filing's Item 7 range, $3,406,350 to $10,294,100, 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, 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.53
Total outlets, 2022 to 2025
Compare Culver's with another brand
Side by side, every figure cited.
Fees (Items 5 and 6)
| Initial franchise fee, standard | $65,000 | p.11 |
| Royalty | 4% of Gross Sales | p.13 |
| Advertising fund | 2.5% of Gross Sales | p.13 |
| Technology fee | Estimated $600 - $1,000 per month | p.14 |
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 | $35,000 | $65,000 | p.15 |
| Land | $225,000 | $2,400,000 | p.15 |
| Site Work | $356,000 | $2,193,000 | p.15 |
| Building | $2,047,000 | $4,391,000 | p.15 |
| Travel, Living and Expenses during Training | $20,000 | $80,000 | p.15 |
| Initial Inventory | $50,000 | $65,000 | p.15 |
| Furniture, Fixtures Equipment and Supplies, (Excluding Sign Package and POS Cash Register System) | $458,000 | $584,000 | p.15 |
| Sign Package | $88,000 | $300,000 | p.15 |
| POS System | $42,350 | $56,100 | p.15 |
| Miscellaneous Expenses | $20,000 | $40,000 | p.15 |
| Additional Funds (working capital) - for 3 months | $65,000 | $120,000 | p.15 |
| Total | $3,406,350 | $10,294,100 | p.15 |
Revenue (Item 19)
Culver's reports average sales of $4,142,737 across 988 outlets.p.37 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 | 886 | 937 | 51 | p.49 |
| company owned | 2023 | 6 | 7 | 1 | p.49 |
| total | 2023 | 892 | 944 | 52 | p.49 |
| franchised | 2024 | 937 | 990 | 53 | p.49 |
| company owned | 2024 | 7 | 7 | 0 | p.49 |
| total | 2024 | 944 | 997 | 53 | p.49 |
| franchised | 2025 | 990 | 1,034 | 44 | p.49 |
| company owned | 2025 | 7 | 7 | 0 | p.49 |
| total | 2025 | 997 | 1,041 | 44 | p.49 |
Openings and closures, system totals (Table 3)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 886 | 52 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 937 | p.53 |
| 2024 | 937 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 990 | p.53 |
| 2025 | 990 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1,034 | p.53 |
Litigation (Item 3)
The filing states no litigation is required to be disclosed.p.11
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 | $3,406,350 | 70 of 74 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | 6.5% | 15 of 59 |
| Three-year unit growth | 16.7% | 18 of 75 |
| Closure rate, 2025 | 0.1% | 69 of 71, 1 = most |
| Discloses unit revenue | yes | |
| Litigation disclosed | 0 | 39 of 68, 1 = most |
Source
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 640580, effective 3/30/2026, expires 3/30/2027. Extracted 2026-09-04 by two independent readers; only figures both agreed on, whose quoted words appear on the cited page, are shown. 5 fields held for review. How this works.