FILING · MN · 2026 FDD
A&W FDD (Franchise Disclosure Document) — 2026
The FDD is the 23-item legal disclosure every U.S. franchisor must hand you at least 14 days before you sign or pay anything (FTC Franchise Rule, 16 CFR 436). A&W's most recent FDD tracked here is the 2026 FDD, a multistate filing. Registration-state filings are public records, so you can read it free, with no sign-up.
PUBLIC RECORD · FILED 2026 · SOURCE STATE MN
| ITEM 5 | Initial franchise fee | $30,000 |
| ITEM 6 | Ongoing royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| ITEM 7 | Total initial investment | $301K–$1.6M |
| ITEM 3 | Disclosed litigation matters | 0 |
| ITEM 19 | Earnings disclosure (FPR) | Yes — median unit volume $1.2M (population and period as defined in the filing's Item 19) |
| ITEM 20 | Outlets (fiscal 2025) | 208 franchised at year end · 10 exits (exit rate 4.7%, fiscal 2025) |
| ITEM 21 | Franchisor financial statements | Unmodified (clean) opinion — Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC |
The headline figure is Average Net Sales for FY2025 (12 months of 2025), for 59 of 407 units, leaving out seasonal restaurants, freestanding without drive-thru, C&G without drive-thru and others. The mean is 7% above the median, so a minority of high-volume units pulls the average up.
Graded on three things the filing states: coverage (2 points if the figure covers at least 75% of the units it is compared with, 1 point for 50–75%), centre (2 points if it prints both a median and a mean, 1 for one of them), and costs (2 points for costs through a profit line or full cost detail, 1 for some cost items). 5–6 points = More complete, 3–4 = Partial, 0–2 = Limited. The grade describes the disclosure, not the business.
| What is measured | Average Net Sales (net sales) |
| Period | FY2025 (12 months of 2025) |
| Whose results | Franchised outlets |
| Units included | 59 of 407 franchised Restaurants in the A&W System at Dec 31, 2025 (all formats incl. co-brand) |
| Left out |
|
| Average (mean) | $1.3M |
| Median | $1.2M |
| Mean vs median | mean 6.8% above median |
| Met or beat the average | 25 or 42% |
| Costs shown | Yes — through a profit line |
| Where | p. 47 (Item 19 runs pp. 46–52) |
| The filing's words | “data for the 59 franchised Freestanding Restaurants that were open and operating for the entire 12 months of 2025 and provided us with their Net Sales ("Reporting Freestanding Restaurants")” |
Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC gave an unmodified (clean) opinion on the statements in the 2026 FDD; revenue fell 5% from FY2024 to FY2025.
Revenue · FY2025
$11.3M
extracted · not cross-checked
Net income · FY2025
$2.7M
extracted · not cross-checked
Where FY2025 revenue came from
95% royalties
initial-fee share not extracted
- Fiscal years covered: FY2024, FY2025 (2026 FDD, statements from p. 130)
- Statements are for: A GREAT AMERICAN BRAND, LLC
- Parent / owner: not identified in the statements
| Fiscal year | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue | $11.9Mp. 130 · matched to statement | $11.3Mextracted · not cross-checked |
| Royalty revenue | $11.2Mp. 130 · matched to statement | $10.8Mextracted · not cross-checked |
| Net income (loss) | $1.5Mp. 130 · matched to statement | $2.7Mextracted · not cross-checked |
How to read this: royalties recur as long as franchisees trade; initial and development fees arrive only when new franchises are sold. A franchisor whose revenue leans on initial fees is funding itself by selling territories, and that revenue stops when sales slow. Under ASC 606 most franchisors recognize initial fees over the agreement term, so the line understates the cash collected in a strong selling year. Ad-fund revenue, where reported, is included in total revenue as the statements present it.
Each figure links to its page in the filed PDF. “Matched to statement” means our extraction and a second, rule-based read of the statement page agree; “extracted · not cross-checked” means the statement page is a scanned image or could not be read as text. Figures we could not place on a consistent scale are withheld, not guessed. Spotted an error? Report a correction.
Every figure above was extracted by software from the 2026 A&W FDD as filed (figures are not individually checked by a person) and links back to that document. Fields that could not be extracted are omitted; no figure here is estimated. Extraction errors are possible: the filing controls, and FDDs are reissued annually; verify against the current issuance before relying on any number. Spotted an error? Franchisors and owners can report it via the contact on our Terms page.
A&W FDD questions, answered
Where can I download the A&W FDD for free?
A&W's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document is a public record. It can be downloaded free from the source link on this page — no broker form, no email signup required.
What year is A&W's most recent FDD on file?
The most recent A&W FDD tracked here is the 2026 FDD. Franchisors must update their FDD annually; confirm you are reading the current issuance before signing.
Does A&W's FDD disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — A&W makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $1.2M. Read the basis fine print: franchisors choose which units and metrics to include.
What does A&W's FDD Item 20 show?
In fiscal 2025, A&W ended with 208 franchised outlets; 10 of 213 open at the start of the year left the system (exit rate 4.7%, fiscal 2025) through terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons".
The A&W validation checklist
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