Highlights
- Every week, 6.0% of gross sales goes to the franchisor before rent, food or labor: royalty 6% of Shop's weekly Total Revenue.p.18
- Opening one unit is estimated at $628,938 to $999,371, including a $40,000 initial fee.p.27
- Potbelly discloses unit performance in Item 19.p.69
- The system went from 429 outlets at the start of 2023 to 470 at the end of 2025, a net gain of 41.p.75
- In 2025, closures of all kinds equalled 2.0% of the outlets open at the start of the year.
- Item 3 discloses 0 matters.
Tools, from this filing's numbers
What Potbelly takes off the top
Royalty 6% of Shop's weekly Total Revenue, applied to your own sales estimate. The rates are the filing's; the sales are yours.
Potbelly discloses no unit revenue, so start from a number you believe.
Cash you would need to open
The filing's Item 7 range, $628,938 to $999,371, 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.79
Total outlets, 2022 to 2025
Compare Potbelly with another brand
Side by side, every figure cited.
Fees (Items 5 and 6)
| Initial franchise fee, standard | $40,000 | p.15 |
| Royalty | 6% of Shop's weekly Total Revenue | p.18 |
| Advertising fund | not stated | |
| Technology fee | held for review |
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 | $20,000 | $40,000 | p.26 |
| Lease and Utility Security Deposits | $4,500 | $9,000 | p.26 |
| Real Estate | held | held | 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 |
Revenue (Item 19)
Potbelly reports Average Unit Volume.p.69 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 | 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 (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 |
Arithmetic checks flagged: item20 table1 total 2023: net change does not reconcile. The figures shown are as filed.
Litigation (Item 3)
The filing states no litigation is required to be disclosed.p.14
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 | 46 of 74 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | 6.0% | 9 of 59 |
| Three-year unit growth | 9.6% | 31 of 75 |
| Closure rate, 2025 | 2.0% | 41 of 71, 1 = most |
| Discloses unit revenue | yes | |
| Litigation disclosed | 0 | 37 of 68, 1 = most |
Source
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 641233, effective 4/24/2026, expires 4/24/2027. Extracted 2026-09-04 by two independent readers; only figures both agreed on, whose quoted words appear on the cited page, are shown. 8 fields held for review. How this works.