Highlights
- Every week, 6.0% of gross sales goes to the franchisor before rent, food or labor: royalty 6% of Gross Sales.p.17
- Opening one unit is estimated at $1,460,000 to $3,810,500, including a $35,000 initial fee.p.24
- The system went from 922 outlets at the start of 2023 to 1,005 at the end of 2025, a net gain of 83.p.63
- In 2025, closures of all kinds equalled 0.2% of the outlets open at the start of the year.
Tools, from this filing's numbers
What Zaxby's takes off the top
Royalty 6% of Gross Sales, applied to your own sales estimate. The rates are the filing's; the sales are yours.
Zaxby's discloses no unit revenue, so start from a number you believe.
Cash you would need to open
The filing's Item 7 range, $1,460,000 to $3,810,500, 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.66
Total outlets, 2022 to 2025
Compare Zaxby's with another brand
Side by side, every figure cited.
Fees (Items 5 and 6)
| Initial franchise fee, standard | $35,000 | p.14 |
| Royalty | 6% of Gross Sales | p.17 |
| Advertising fund | not stated | |
| Technology fee | $0.06 per transaction | p.18 |
The filing lists every recurring and conditional fee in Item 6.
Estimated initial investment (Item 7)
| Expenditure | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $35,000 | $35,000 | p.23 |
| Lease Deposit and Payment | $10,000 | $19,000 | p.23 |
| Utility Deposits | $0 | $9,000 | p.23 |
| Building | $640,000 | $1,300,000 | p.23 |
| Sitework | $150,000 | $990,000 | p.23 |
| Architect & Engineer | $45,000 | $110,000 | p.23 |
| Permits and Licenses | $2,000 | $150,000 | p.23 |
| Accounting and Legal Fees | $500 | $25,000 | p.23 |
| Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment Package | $445,000 | $497,000 | p.23 |
| Technology System | $75,000 | $217,500 | p.23 |
| Signage | $23,000 | $245,000 | p.23 |
| Insurance | $1,000 | $17,000 | p.23 |
| Printing/Business Supplies | $300 | $1,000 | p.23 |
| Initial Marketing Contribution | $5,200 | $10,000 | p.23 |
| Initial Inventory | $5,000 | $22,000 | p.23 |
| Uniforms | $1,500 | $5,000 | p.23 |
| Training Expenses | $10,000 | $25,000 | p.24 |
| Pre-Opening Payroll | $10,000 | $37,000 | p.24 |
| Additional Funds - 3 months | $1,000 | $96,000 | p.24 |
| Total | $1,460,000 | $3,810,500 | p.24 |
Revenue (Item 19)
Item 19 is held for review: the two readers disagreed. See the run log.
Units (Item 20)
| Type | Year | Start | End | Net | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| franchised | 2023 | 776 | 796 | 20 | p.63 |
| company owned | 2023 | 146 | 145 | -1 | p.63 |
| total | 2023 | 922 | 941 | 19 | p.63 |
| franchised | 2024 | 796 | 826 | 30 | p.63 |
| company owned | 2024 | 145 | 143 | -2 | p.63 |
| total | 2024 | 941 | 969 | 28 | p.63 |
| franchised | 2025 | 826 | 865 | 39 | p.63 |
| company owned | 2025 | 143 | 140 | -3 | p.63 |
| total | 2025 | 969 | 1,005 | 36 | p.63 |
Openings and closures, system totals (Table 3)
| Year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Non-renewed | Reacquired | Ceased, other | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 796 | 37 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 826 | p.66 |
| 2025 | 826 | 41 | 6 | 1 | -6 | 1 | 865 | p.66 |
Arithmetic checks flagged: Item 20 Table 3 does not foot for 2024: start + opened - closures = 827, filing states 826. The figures shown are as filed.
Litigation (Item 3)
Item 3 has not been read for this filing yet, or the two readers disagreed and it is held for review.
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 | $1,460,000 | 11 of 15 |
| Royalty plus ad fund | 6.0% | 4 of 16 |
| Three-year unit growth | 9.0% | 6 of 17 |
| Closure rate, 2025 | 0.2% | 15 of 16, 1 = most |
| Discloses unit revenue | held | |
| Litigation disclosed | held | held |
Source
Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions franchise filing 641240, effective 4/24/2026, expires 4/24/2027. Extracted 2026-09-03 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.