Sample data — illustrative, not for citation
Quiznos
sandwich · Rego Restaurant Group · est. 1981
Quiznos, owned by Rego Restaurant Group, is a quick-service chain known for toasted submarine sandwiches. A franchisee operates a counter-service storefront serving lunch-focused dine-in, takeout, and catering customers.
Quiznos net unit count declined -30.8% from 2023–2025 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
Not enough disclosure
Distress
No verified FDD extraction to judge from. Any figures shown are labelled sample data or independent federal records.
SBA loan defaults
28.5%
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
2023–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 160 | 133 | 110 |
| Opened | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Transfers | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Terminations | 13 | 11 | 9 |
| Non-renewals | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 11 | 10 | 8 |
| Outlets at end | 133 | 110 | 92 |
| Net change | -27 | -23 | -18 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 2,769 SBA-backed loans to Quiznos franchisees since 1993. Of the 2,327 that have resolved, 28.5% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
28.5%
663 of 2327 resolved defaulted
63.9%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
18.2%
default rate × loss severity
$176,800
what recent franchisees borrowed
60 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
3 vs 7
distinct banks — pulling back
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO QUIZNOS BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Jpmorgan Chase Bank, National Association
6.3% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 12.0% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
85.6%
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?
−4.7pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 41.8%; single-unit owners at 46.5%.
Computed from 2,769 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Quiznos 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
To open (Item 7)
$100K–$350K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$10K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
7%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$70K
7% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$700K
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 Quiznos with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 143 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $246K in back wages for 479 workers, including 63 child-labor cases. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
143
Back wages owed
$246K
Employees affected
479
Since 2020
2
63 of these cases involved child-labor violations, covering 217 minors across the system's franchised locations.
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual Quiznos franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not Quiznos 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 2024.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
Quiznos to close doors after 22 years of serving subs in Jackson - Buckrail
news:Jackson Hole, news · 9mo ago
What Happened to Quiznos? 4,000+ Closures — But There’s Still Hope
news:1851 Franchise · 43mo ago
Toasted: Quiznos files for bankruptcy
news:CNBC · 150mo ago
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Quiznos's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →