Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender
CIRCLE K (STANDARD)
Other · independent · est. —
Circle K's standard program franchises the full convenience store plus fuel format. Franchisees develop and operate a Circle K site, selling fuel, packaged goods, snacks, and beverages to drive-up customers.
CIRCLE K (STANDARD) 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
Proven & strong
Distress
Enough units and history to judge, and the record is good: growing or stable units with clean exits by the standards of its disclosed record. The standout in the record: owners who leave mostly sell rather than fail.
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
9.1%
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 61 SBA-backed loans to CIRCLE K (STANDARD) franchisees since 2001. Of the 44 that have resolved, 9.1% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
9.1%
4 of 44 resolved defaulted
48.5%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
4.4%
default rate × loss severity
$1,205,559
what recent franchisees borrowed
82 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
0 vs 13
distinct banks — pulling back
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 (STANDARD) BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Pcb Bank
9.6% of this brand's loans
Who buys it
88.7%
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 61 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to CIRCLE K (STANDARD) 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 (STANDARD) with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 83% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
17 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
8.2%
Observed SBA charge-off
9.1%
Top drivers: Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · Net unit growth (lowers) · System size (log units) (raises) · Single-lender dependence (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 (STANDARD). 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 (STANDARD)'s numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →CIRCLE K (STANDARD) franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of CIRCLE K (STANDARD) franchises closed last year?
In CIRCLE K (STANDARD)'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 (STANDARD) franchise cost?
Per CIRCLE K (STANDARD)'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 (STANDARD) charge?
CIRCLE K (STANDARD) charges an ongoing royalty of 3.5% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does CIRCLE K (STANDARD) disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — CIRCLE K (STANDARD) 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 (STANDARD) franchises default?
Across 61 SBA-backed loans to CIRCLE K (STANDARD) franchisees since 2001, 4 of the 44 that have resolved were charged off — a 9.1% 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.