FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

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

CRUMBL

Other · independent · est. —

Crumbl is a dessert franchise known for large cookies on a weekly rotating menu, sold in-store and through its app for pickup and delivery. Franchisees operate a retail bakery storefront, baking in-house and managing a heavy flow of digital orders.

CRUMBL net unit count grew +13.3% from 2023–2025 per its FDD Item 20.

Source FDD filing (MN 2026) ↗
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

42
WATCH

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

0.9%

fiscal 2025, per Item 20

Cost to open

$849K–$1.5M

Item 7 total investment range

SBA loan defaults

0.0%

vs 14.8% avg across rated brands

Talk it through with a CPA — free →See the evidence ↓

Behind the verdict

the record, factor by factor · Item 20

hi-1.0.0
Net unit growth35%

3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1

Strong
Exit quality25%

terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3

Strong
Transfer / churn15%

transfers vs. base · Table 3

Fair
Promise-keeping10%

actual vs. projected openings · Table 5

Fair
Transparency15%

Item 19 disclosure + completeness

Strong

Systemwide units

2023–2025

+13.3%
97220231,05920241,1012025

Survival record

FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year

In fiscal 2025, 9 of 1,058 franchised outlets left the system — a 0.9% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.

Show the outlet tables ↓
Status (FTC)202320242025
Outlets at start6909721,059
Opened28810052
Transfers446282
Terminations6128
Non-renewals001
Reacquired by franchisor100
Ceased — other reasons000
Outlets at end9721,0591,101
Net change+282+87+42
SOURCE: MN CARDS · FILED 2026 · ITEM 20

The lender's view

SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present

Banks have made 307 SBA-backed loans to CRUMBL franchisees since 2019. Of the 119 that have resolved, 0.0% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 570 rated brands.

Charge-off rate

0.0%

0 of 119 resolved defaulted

Loss given default

—

avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $

Expected loss

—

default rate × loss severity

Avg. loan · FY2020+

$603,621

what recent franchisees borrowed

Median time to default

—

approval → charge-off, defaulted loans

Lenders · FY21+ vs FY16–20

82 vs 14

distinct banks still lending

Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)

0'2000'220'23

Loan performance by state

Texas · 34California · 33Florida · 31Ohio · 28Georgia · 19Massachusetts · 12North Carolina · 9Washington · 9Indiana · 8Michigan · 8Alabama · 7Missouri · 7

SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO CRUMBL BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL

What it costs — and what it drags

FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty

Buying in means a $50K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $849K–$1.5M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.

To open (Item 7)

$849K–$1.5M

all-in investment range

Franchise fee (Item 5)

$50K

upfront, one-time

Royalty (Item 6)

8%

of sales, ongoing

If a unit does this in annual sales…$1M/yr

Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.

Royalty you'd pay / yr

$80K

8% of sales, before profit

Over a 10-yr term

$800K

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 CRUMBL with an independent CPA
SOURCE: MN CARDS · FILED 2026 · ITEMS 5–7

Labor record

US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present

Federal investigators have concluded 10 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $8K in back wages for 40 workers, including 6 child-labor cases. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.

Concluded cases

10

Back wages owed

$8K

Employees affected

40

Since 2020

10

6 of these cases involved child-labor violations, covering 54 minors across the system's franchised locations.

Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual CRUMBL franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not CRUMBL 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.

Distress signals

news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits

FULL REPORT →

10 questions to ask a CRUMBL 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 CRUMBL has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.

  1. 01

    CRUMBL’s own Item 20 shows 9 of 1,058 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2025 — about 0.9%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?

    A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.

    FDD Item 20 · FY2025

  2. 02

    82 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2025. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?

    Transfers count as neutral in every ranking. They are the single easiest place to hide distress.

    FDD Item 20 · FY2025

  3. 03

    Of 119 SBA loans to CRUMBL franchisees that have finished, 0.0% 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

  4. 04

    You pay 8.0% 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

  5. 05

    CRUMBL 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

  6. 06

    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

  7. 07

    Item 3 discloses 1 legal matter. 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

  8. 08

    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

  9. 09

    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

  10. 10

    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 CRUMBL’s numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.

Before you sign anythingfree · 30 min · no commission

A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing CRUMBL's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.

Don Drummond, CPA — Virginia #43775 · what I charge

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Own or owned a CRUMBL?no appointment · read by a person

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.

CRUMBL franchise questions, answered from the filings

What percentage of CRUMBL franchises closed last year?

In CRUMBL's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 9 of 1,058 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 0.9%. 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 CRUMBL franchise cost?

Per CRUMBL's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $50K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $849K–$1.5M (Item 7).

What royalty does CRUMBL charge?

CRUMBL charges an ongoing royalty of 8.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.

Does CRUMBL disclose earnings (Item 19)?

Yes — CRUMBL makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $1.1M. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.

How often do SBA loans for CRUMBL franchises default?

Across 307 SBA-backed loans to CRUMBL franchisees since 2019, 0 of the 119 that have resolved were charged off — a 0.0% 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.

SOURCE: MN CARDS · FILED 2026 · ITEMS 5–7, 19, 20