Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S2930 since 2018
CIRCLE K
Other · independent · est. —
Circle K is a global convenience store brand, typically paired with fuel sales. Franchisees operate a convenience store, often with gasoline, handling merchandise, foodservice, and fuel retail for everyday customers.
CIRCLE K net unit count grew +0.1% from 2024–2026 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The standout in the record: owner turnover is low.
Exit rate · latest year
10.7%
fiscal 2026, per Item 20
Cost to open
$1.5M–$2.9M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
12.5%
24 loans resolved — directional only
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2024–2026
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2026, 61 of 569 franchised outlets left the system — a 10.7% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 5,928 | 6,063 | 6,125 |
| Opened | 22 | 18 | 7 |
| Transfers | 26 | 32 | 20 |
| Terminations | 32 | 25 | 35 |
| Non-renewals | 23 | 10 | 26 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 6,063 | 6,125 | 6,071 |
| Net change | +135 | +62 | -54 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 104 SBA-backed loans to CIRCLE K franchisees since 2017. Only 24 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 3 of them charged off.
—
24 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$1,728,779
what recent franchisees borrowed
68 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
25 vs 20
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO CIRCLE K BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Open Bank
12.3% of this brand's loans
Who buys it
87.9%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 104 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to CIRCLE K franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $25K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $1.5M–$2.9M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$1.5M–$2.9M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$25K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$60K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$600K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for CIRCLE K with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 77 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $156K in back wages for 205 workers, including 1 child-labor case. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
77
Back wages owed
$156K
Employees affected
205
Since 2020
7
1 of these cases involved child-labor violations, covering 1 minors across the system's franchised locations.
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual CIRCLE K franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not CIRCLE K itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2025.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 72% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
28 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
9.8%
Observed SBA charge-off
12.5%
Top drivers: Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · System size (log units) (lowers) · Single-lender dependence (raises) · Net unit growth (raises). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for CIRCLE K. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing CIRCLE K's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →CIRCLE K franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of CIRCLE K franchises closed last year?
In CIRCLE K's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2026), 61 of 569 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 10.7%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a CIRCLE K franchise cost?
Per CIRCLE K's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $25K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $1.5M–$2.9M (Item 7).
What royalty does CIRCLE K charge?
CIRCLE K charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does CIRCLE K disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — CIRCLE K's 2026 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.