Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory — SBA financing may be unavailable; verify with your lender
Hissho
Other · independent · est. —
Hissho is a sushi franchise whose operators run fresh-sushi counters and kiosks, typically inside grocery stores, campuses, and other host venues. A franchisee staffs a small sushi bar where trained chefs roll sushi daily for grab-and-go sale to the host location's shoppers.
Hissho net unit count grew +39.8% from 2018–2020 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 main concern in the record: owners are leaving at a high rate.
Exit rate · latest year
20.4%
fiscal 2020, per Item 20
Cost to open
$24K–$89K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
No loan record
no SBA 7(a)/504 loans found for this brand
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
2018–2020
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2020, 299 of 1,468 franchised outlets left the system — a 20.4% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 1,117 | 1,306 | 1,716 |
| Opened | 461 | 486 | 548 |
| Transfers | 153 | 153 | 194 |
| Terminations | 131 | 150 | 251 |
| Non-renewals | 25 | 19 | 17 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 20 | 10 | 13 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 23 | 44 | 31 |
| Outlets at end | 1,306 | 1,716 | 1,826 |
| Net change | +189 | +410 | +110 |
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $4K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $24K–$89K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$24K–$89K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$4K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
—
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$0
0% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$0
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 Hissho with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 1 wage case against operators of this system, recovering $9K in back wages for 6 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
1
Back wages owed
$9K
Employees affected
6
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual Hissho franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not Hissho 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 2015.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
Hissho Sushi and Frito-Lay Offer a Flamin' Hot Cheetos Sushi Roll
news:Hypebeast · 67mo ago
7 questions to ask a Hissho 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 Hissho has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
Hissho’s own Item 20 shows 299 of 1,468 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2020 — about 20.4%. 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 · FY2020
- 02
194 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2020. 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 · FY2020
- 03
Hissho’s FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?
When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.
FDD Item 19 · 2021
- 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
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
- 06
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
- 07
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 Hissho’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 Hissho'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.
Hissho franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Hissho franchises closed last year?
In Hissho's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2020), 299 of 1,468 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 20.4%. 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 Hissho franchise cost?
Per Hissho's 2021 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $4K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $24K–$89K (Item 7).
Does Hissho disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — Hissho's 2021 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.