Potbelly franchise cost 2026
From the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document of POTBELLY FRANCHISING, LLC, registered in Wisconsin (filing 641233, effective 4/24/2026). Every number links to the page it was read from.
| Total initial investment | $628,938 to $999,371 | p.27 |
| Initial franchise fee | $40,000 | p.15 |
| Royalty | 6% of Shop's weekly Total Revenue | p.18 |
| Advertising fund | not stated | |
| Item 19 financial performance | Average Unit Volume: None | p.69 |
| Units, end of 2025 | 470 | p.75 |
Units by year (Item 20, Table 1)
| Type | Year | Start | End | Net change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| franchised | 2023 | 45 | 80 | 35 | p.75 |
| company owned | 2023 | 384 | 345 | -39 | p.75 |
| total | 2023 | 429 | 425 | -5 | p.75 |
| franchised | 2024 | 80 | 102 | 22 | p.75 |
| company owned | 2024 | 345 | 342 | -3 | p.75 |
| total | 2024 | 425 | 444 | 19 | p.75 |
| franchised | 2025 | 102 | 122 | 20 | p.75 |
| company owned | 2025 | 342 | 348 | 6 | p.75 |
| total | 2025 | 444 | 470 | 26 | p.75 |
Openings and closures, system totals (Item 20, Table 3)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 45 | 39 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80 | p.79 |
| 2024 | 80 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 102 | p.79 |
| 2025 | 102 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 122 | p.79 |
Estimated initial investment (Item 7)
| Expenditure | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $20,000 | $40,000 | p.26 |
| Lease and Utility Security Deposits | $4,500 | $9,000 | p.26 |
| Real Estate | None | None | p.26 |
| Architectural Fees | $14,815 | $22,137 | p.26 |
| Leasehold Improvements | $329,727 | $435,090 | p.26 |
| Signage | $8,318 | $26,144 | p.26 |
| Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment | $197,507 | $268,315 | p.26 |
| Smallwares | $11,000 | $45,000 | p.26 |
| Technology | $20,564 | $37,488 | p.26 |
| Training Expenses | $500 | $10,000 | p.26 |
| Insurance (12 months) | $4,000 | $9,240 | p.27 |
| Professional Fees | $2,378 | $3,250 | p.27 |
| Business Licenses & Permits | $831 | $3,707 | p.27 |
| Office Equipment & Supplies | $1,000 | $5,000 | p.27 |
| Market Introduction Program | $10,000 | $15,000 | p.27 |
| Opening Inventory | $3,698 | $20,000 | p.27 |
| Additional Funds (3 months) | $100 | $50,000 | p.27 |
| Total | $628,938 | $999,371 | p.27 |
Item 19: what the filing says about revenue
Potbelly reports Average Unit Volume of None.
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 | $628,938 | rank 5 of 10 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | 6.0% | rank 2 of 10 |
| Three-year unit growth | 9.6% | rank 4 of 12 |
| Closure rate, 2025 | 2.0% | rank 4 of 11 (1 = most) |
| Discloses unit revenue | yes | |
| Litigation disclosed | held | held |
Litigation (Item 3)
Item 3 has not been read for this filing yet, or the two readers disagreed and it is held for review.
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Provenance
Source: Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 641233, effective 4/24/2026, expires 4/24/2027. Extracted 2026-09-03 by two independent passes; only figures both passes agreed on and that appear verbatim on the cited page are shown. 5 field(s) held back as unresolved. Arithmetic checks flagged: item20 table1 total 2023: net change does not reconcile. How this works.