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 +5.2% 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
Too new to judge
Distress
This system grew to 72 franchised units from a base of 11 — the record looks clean because very few units have been exposed for very long, not because many have survived. Median SBA time-to-default is about 61 months; this system has not lived through that window at scale. Judge the disclosures, not a verdict.
Exit rate · latest year
0.0%
fiscal 2026, per Item 20
Cost to open
$3.1M–$9.4M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
10.3%
vs 14.8% avg across rated brands
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, 0 of 54 franchised outlets left the system — a 0.0% 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 | 4,138 | 4,444 | 4,631 |
| Opened | 30 | 13 | 18 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 4,444 | 4,631 | 4,673 |
| Net change | +306 | +187 | +42 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 165 SBA-backed loans to CIRCLE K franchisees since 2001. Of the 68 that have resolved, 10.3% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 570 rated brands.
10.3%
7 of 68 resolved defaulted
62.4%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
6.4%
default rate × loss severity
$1,728,780
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 $3.1M–$9.4M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$3.1M–$9.4M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$25K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
3.5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$35K
3.5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$350K
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
Circle K data breach class action settlement
news:Top Class Actions · 3mo ago
Circle K, FEMSA sued by New Mexico over illegal vape sales
news:CSP Daily News · 5mo ago
New Mexico AG sues Circle K, other retailers for ‘their role’ in youth nicotine addiction
news:Source New Mexico · 5mo ago
8 questions to ask a CIRCLE K franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These are the questions built from what CIRCLE K has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
Of 68 SBA loans to CIRCLE K franchisees that have finished, 10.3% were charged off — the borrower didn't repay. Did you finance with an SBA loan, and how close did your first two years come to trouble?
This is the lender's view of failure, from public federal records, and it is independent of anything the franchisor discloses.
SBA 7(a)/504 loan record, FY1991–present
- 02
You pay 3.5% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 03
CIRCLE K makes an earnings claim in Item 19. Does your unit look like that number — and do you know which units they included to build it?
Item 19 is legal to build from a flattering subset. Ask whether they excluded new units, closed units, or company stores.
FDD Item 19 · 2026
- 04
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 05
Item 3 discloses 6 legal matters. Do you know what those were about, and were any brought by franchisees?
Franchisee-brought suits over territory, fees or support tell you how the franchisor behaves when there's a disagreement.
FDD Item 3 · 2026
- 06
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 07
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 08
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if CIRCLE K’s numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing CIRCLE K's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
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), 0 of 54 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 0.0%. 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 $3.1M–$9.4M (Item 7).
What royalty does CIRCLE K charge?
CIRCLE K charges an ongoing royalty of 3.5% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does CIRCLE K disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — CIRCLE K makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $1.5M. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.
How often do SBA loans for CIRCLE K franchises default?
Across 165 SBA-backed loans to CIRCLE K franchisees since 2001, 7 of the 68 that have resolved were charged off — a 10.3% default rate, versus about 14.8% across all rated franchise brands. This is the lender's-eye view of franchisee failure, drawn from public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data and independent of the franchisor's own disclosures.