Sample data — illustrative, not for citation
SBA-eligible · directory code S1079 since 2017
Marco's Pizza
pizza · Marco's Franchising · est. 1978
Marco's Pizza is a carryout and delivery pizza chain selling pizzas, subs, and sides made with fresh dough. A franchisee operates a compact storefront focused on delivery and takeout volume, managing a kitchen crew and drivers serving nearby households.
Marco's Pizza net unit count grew +21.2% 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
7.9%
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 | 1,071 | 1,179 | 1,298 |
| Opened | 116 | 127 | 140 |
| Transfers | 34 | 38 | 42 |
| Terminations | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Non-renewals | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Outlets at end | 1,179 | 1,298 | 1,429 |
| Net change | +108 | +119 | +131 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 513 SBA-backed loans to Marco's Pizza franchisees since 1992. Of the 290 that have resolved, 7.9% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
7.9%
23 of 290 resolved defaulted
63.3%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
5.0%
default rate × loss severity
$426,574
what recent franchisees borrowed
54 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
50 vs 60
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO MARCO'S PIZZA BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Keybank National Association
8.1% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 11.1% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
77.7%
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?
+6.6pp
multi-unit vs single-unit owners
Owners of multiple units default at 12.2%; single-unit owners at 5.6%.
Computed from 513 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Marco's Pizza 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)
$289K–$730K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$25K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5.5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$55K
5.5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$550K
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 Marco's Pizza with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 119 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $485K in back wages for 3,155 workers, including 53 child-labor cases. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
119
Back wages owed
$485K
Employees affected
3,155
Since 2020
42
53 of these cases involved child-labor violations, covering 377 minors across the system's franchised locations.
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual Marco's Pizza franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not Marco's Pizza 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
Marco's Pizza closes Helena location
news:Shelby County Reporter · 13mo ago
Marco's Pizza closes Anoka location
news:The Business Journals · 17mo ago
news:wdtimes.com · 20mo ago
Ellen DeGeneres supports the Packers, Marco's Pizza closes in Fond du Lac: Stories you loved
news:The Post-Crescent · 82mo ago
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Marco's Pizza's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →