Food & Beverage

Firehouse Subs Franchise

A submarine-sandwich quick-service franchise founded by two brothers who are former firefighters, built around a firehouse-themed decor and a public-safety giving program funded by round-up donations and other proceeds. Established in Jacksonville, Florida in 1994 and franchising since 1995; net franchised locations grew in both years shown in this older FDD's three-year window.

Opening more locationsFounded 1994HQ: Jacksonville, FL

Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Firehouse Subs's own filing.

What it costs to open

From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.

Franchise fee

$20,000

Total to open

$166,671–$950,351

Ongoing royalty

6% of gross sales

What you'd actually spend, over time

The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.

Your estimated annual revenue

Defaulted to a rough food & beverage industry average, not a figure from Firehouse Subs's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.

Years of ownership

Total cost of ownership over 5 years

$466,671 – $1,250,351

Startup investment

$166,671–$950,351

Royalty per year (6%)

$60,000

Total royalty, 5yr

$300,000

When would you break even?

Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Firehouse Subs's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical food & beverage profit margin (~8%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.

Estimated profit margin (% of revenue)

%≈ $80,000/year

Defaulted to a general food & beverage industry benchmark, not a figure from Firehouse Subs's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.

At that profit, you'd break even in about

2.1–11.9 years

Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Firehouse Subs is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.

Is Firehouse Subs actually growing?

Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:

Locations opened vs. closed, by year

Growing

From Item 20 of Firehouse Subs's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.

+24

-2

+10

201920202021

Year	Franchised units, start	Franchised units, end	Net change
2019	1,093	1,117	+24
2020	1,117	1,115	-2
2021	1,115	1,125	+10

Most recent year (2021): gained 10 franchised units, ending the year at 1,125 total.

How Firehouse Subs compares to other Food & Beverage franchises

Across the 52 food & beverage franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $860,899–$2,165,095, with royalties averaging around 5.6% of gross sales (based on the 48 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).

Dave's Hot Chicken

$617,800–$2,170,000 · 6% royalty

Slim Chickens

$1,188,900–$4,944,000 · 5% royalty

Ziggi's Coffee

$315,830–$2,093,361 · 6% royalty

Crumbl

$848,566–$1,472,533 · 8% royalty

Little Caesars

$376,500–$1,769,200 · 6% royalty

Jamba

$480,850–$941,300 · 6% royalty

Tropical Smoothie Cafe

$300,000–$720,500 · 6% royalty

Playa Bowls

$188,675–$636,458 · 6% royalty

Kona Ice

$114,730–$228,601 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Wingstop

$310,400–$1,048,500 · 6% royalty

Jersey Mike's Subs

$436,176–$1,162,228 · 6.5% royalty

Dunkin'

$532,400–$1,832,500 · 5.9% royalty

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen

$1,222,045–$3,923,245 · 5% royalty

Del Taco

$1,461,200–$3,313,500 · 5% royalty

Blaze Pizza

$757,000–$1,297,100 · 5% royalty

Church's Texas Chicken

$1,202,400–$1,886,300 · 5% royalty

MOD Pizza

$924,732–$1,220,633 · 5% royalty

Twin Peaks

$2,959,000–$5,734,000 · 5% royalty

McDonald's

$1,470,500–$2,642,000 · 5% royalty

Subway

$263,000–$630,000 · 8% royalty

Taco Bell

$1,859,750–$4,312,200 · 5.5% royalty

Domino's Pizza

$231,450–$743,500 · 5.5% royalty

KFC

$2,107,575–$4,155,000 · 5% royalty

Burger King

$2,039,200–$4,730,600 · 4.5% royalty

Chick-fil-A

$317,521–$3,463,155 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Penn Station

$507,500–$858,750 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Nekter Juice Bar

$243,155–$647,160 · 6% royalty

Jimmy John's

$366,200–$733,500 · 6% royalty

Sonic Drive-In

$1,485,200–$2,522,900 · 5% royalty

Papa John's

$281,485–$890,267 · 5% royalty

Hungry Howie's Pizza & Subs

$238,982–$697,322 · 5.5% royalty

Jack in the Box

$1,909,500–$4,041,500 · 5% royalty

Wendy's

$1,523,957–$2,992,000 · 4% royalty

Marco's Pizza

$286,477–$811,186 · 5.5% royalty

Pizza Hut

$846,000–$2,130,000 · 6% royalty

Chicken Salad Chick

$777,000–$998,500 · 5% royalty

Teriyaki Madness

$392,667–$1,121,405 · 6% royalty

Cold Stone Creamery

$390,675–$680,775 · 6% royalty

Scooter's Coffee

$1,163,650–$1,345,750 · 6% royalty

Nothing Bundt Cakes

$475,200–$994,100 · 6% royalty

Five Guys

$977,850–$1,375,750 · 6% royalty

Tim Hortons

$427,500–$3,312,500 · 6% royalty

7 Brew

$940,500–$2,283,500 · non-%-of-revenue royalty

Swig

$608,400–$1,718,000 · 7% royalty

Culver's

$3,406,350–$10,294,100 · 4% royalty

Dairy Queen

$1,516,200–$2,543,050 · 4% royalty

Paris Baguette

$727,515–$1,860,550 · 5% royalty

Jollibee

$1,614,568–$4,589,057 · 5% royalty

Smoothie King

$329,850–$683,215 · 6% royalty

IHOP

$380,550–$3,735,850 · 4.5% royalty

Cinnabon

$256,950–$703,500 · 6% royalty

Firehouse Subs Franchise FAQ

How much does it cost to franchise a Firehouse Subs?

Based on Firehouse Subs's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $166,671–$950,351, including the $20,000 franchise fee. California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID app-23592, filed 4/1/2022, effective 4/20/2022. FDD issued March 25, 2022 -- an older filing; Item 20's three-year window here covers 2019-2021, not 2023-2025 like most other entries in this dataset. Item 5: $20,000 initial franchise fee (less a non-refundable $2,500 application deposit applied to it). Item 6: 6% royalty on Gross Sales (reduced to 3% for the first 2 years at designated Incentive Restaurants), plus a separate 1% System Fund contribution and a 4% local advertising requirement. Item 7: $166,671-$950,351 total initial investment for the Traditional New Restaurant Development format (Unit Franchise Program, excluding real estate purchase costs) -- Item 7 also discloses narrower ranges for an End-Cap Strip Mall w/ Drive Thru format ($475,133-$629,672) and a Free Standing w/ Drive Thru format ($462,823-$770,070); this entry uses the traditional-format figure. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets for 2019-2021.

What is the Firehouse Subs franchise fee and royalty rate?

The initial franchise fee is $20,000, and the ongoing royalty is 6% of gross sales, per the filing on record.

Is the Firehouse Subs franchise growing or shrinking?

Growing. Across 2019–2021, Firehouse Subs added a net 32 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.

Keep going

Firehouse Subs and Playa Bowls are both food & beverage franchises; Firehouse Subs's total investment starts about $22,004 lower than Playa Bowls's. Playa Bowls Franchise
Firehouse Subs and Kona Ice are both food & beverage franchises; Kona Ice's total investment starts about $51,941 lower than Firehouse Subs's. Kona Ice Franchise

Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID app-23592, filed 4/1/2022, effective 4/20/2022. FDD issued March 25, 2022 -- an older filing; Item 20's three-year window here covers 2019-2021, not 2023-2025 like most other entries in this dataset. Item 5: $20,000 initial franchise fee (less a non-refundable $2,500 application deposit applied to it). Item 6: 6% royalty on Gross Sales (reduced to 3% for the first 2 years at designated Incentive Restaurants), plus a separate 1% System Fund contribution and a 4% local advertising requirement. Item 7: $166,671-$950,351 total initial investment for the Traditional New Restaurant Development format (Unit Franchise Program, excluding real estate purchase costs) -- Item 7 also discloses narrower ranges for an End-Cap Strip Mall w/ Drive Thru format ($475,133-$629,672) and a Free Standing w/ Drive Thru format ($462,823-$770,070); this entry uses the traditional-format figure. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets for 2019-2021. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2022-04-01. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.

If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.