Olo
Mandatoryand provided that if required and/or if you choose to participate in such third-party delivery services, you may be required to utilize a point-of-sale integration directed by us. Olo is a Franchisor-
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Blimpie
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing control at Blimpie sits with its HQ leadership team, led by CEO Eric Lefebvre and COO Jeff Smit. The chain mandates Olo for online ordering across its 88-unit system, which is 95% franchised. With a 13.4% year-over-year unit decline, the addressable market is contracting, making targeted vendor pitches to the 5 multi-unit operators and HQ critical.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
88
84 franchised
Unit growth YoY
-13.402%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
6%
of gross sales
Ad fund
4%
national + local
Initial fee
$18K
per unit
Investment range
$308K–$601K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
No claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
10%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
1 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.
Facebook
3.2 and 10.2). 7. You may not maintain a web site, software application, an App ( application ), social media account (including, but not limited to, an account, group or page on Facebook®, Flickr®, F
Instagram
eb site, software application, an App ( application ), social media account (including, but not limited to, an account, group or page on Facebook®, Flickr®, Foursquare®, Google+®, Instagram®, LinkedIn
LinkedIn
tware application, an App ( application ), social media account (including, but not limited to, an account, group or page on Facebook®, Flickr®, Foursquare®, Google+®, Instagram®, LinkedIn®, Pinterest
Pinterest
cation, an App ( application ), social media account (including, but not limited to, an account, group or page on Facebook®, Flickr®, Foursquare®, Google+®, Instagram®, LinkedIn®, Pinterest®, Snapchat
Snapchat
pp ( application ), social media account (including, but not limited to, an account, group or page on Facebook®, Flickr®, Foursquare®, Google+®, Instagram®, LinkedIn®, Pinterest®, Snapchat®, Tumblr®,
Twitter
cial media account (including, but not limited to, an account, group or page on Facebook®, Flickr®, Foursquare®, Google+®, Instagram®, LinkedIn®, Pinterest®, Snapchat®, Tumblr®, X/Twitter®, Page 57 Yo
YouTube
(including, but not limited to, an account, group or page on Facebook®, Flickr®, Foursquare®, Google+®, Instagram®, LinkedIn®, Pinterest®, Snapchat®, Tumblr®, X/Twitter®, Page 57 YouTube®, Vine®, VKon
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
26 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 1 explicit no; 7 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
The POS System must be configured so that we have independent and remote access to the information and data stored in it.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
to submit to us, on or before the thirtieth (30th) day of each month, commencing with the opening of the Franchised Business, in a format and method approved by us (including through a third-party vendor that franchisee may be required to pay for), a profit and loss statement of the Franchised Business for the…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
Neptune Equipment, an affiliate of Kahala Franchising, is currently one of the approved suppliers of certain equipment, interior and exterior signage menu boards, POS System, and smallwares.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 11
The BBBF’s expenditures are controlled by the National Franchisee Advisory Council (“NFAC”), the Area Developer Advisory Council (“ADAC”), and us.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
At any time and from time to time, we may in our sole option engage in new product rollouts to add to or change the menu items offered for sale in the Franchised Business and the ingredients or supplier of ingredients utilized in the preparation of the menu items sold in the Franchised Business (“Rollout”).
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We or our affiliates may also receive rebates and/or allowances, usually ranging between 1% and 5%, from certain suppliers on purchases made by you and other franchisees.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
A charge not to exceed the reasonable cost of the inspection and the actual cost of the test not to exceed $5,000 must be paid to us either by you or by the proposed supplier.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
All requests for approving new or alternative suppliers must be submitted in writing by you and/or the supplier to the purchasing department at Kahala Brands.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
transfer to our designee or us all telephone numbers used by you in connection with the Franchised Business.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Therefore, as a franchisee who accepts credit cards, you are required to be PCI compliant by following and adhering to PCI DSS, which includes ensuring that your POS System, back office computer (if supplied), and any other device that is plugged into the network is only used for business purposes.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
We will continue our efforts to maintain high and uniform standards of quality, cleanliness, appearance and service at all restaurants in the System, including making periodic inspections and quality service checks of your restaurant
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
We may modify the Operations Manual as and when we desire, but no modification will materially alter your status and rights under the Franchise Agreement
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You must select, and we must approve, an acceptable location within nine (9) months after the effective date of the Franchise Agreement.
Marketing
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 7
Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) for a Traditional and Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) for a Non-Traditional restaurant (“Grand Opening Marketing”) is payable to us on the earlier of: (i) prior to you executing a lease for the premises where the Franchised Business will be located; or (ii) prior to construction…
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesItem 8
You are required to accept all approved debit and credit cards, along with Kahala Franchising or its affiliate’s Stored Value Gift Cards, Loyalty Cards, Frequency Cards, and any other similar Kahala Franchising or affiliate sponsored electronic card and/or payment program (collectively, the “Gift/Loyalty Card”) from…
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
If a Cooperative is formed for your region, you must financially contribute to the Cooperative as required by us.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesFranchise agreement
You must purchase or otherwise acquire certain proprietary or required equipment and supplies utilized in the Franchised Business only from our designated approved distributors or suppliers.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
The Franchise Agreement requires that all food products, ingredients, equipment, computer hardware and software, furniture, fixtures, décor, signs, computer equipment, supplies and other products, services and materials which you will use in the operation of your restaurant meet our standards and be purchased only…
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
Additionally, you must utilize our approved third party payment card processor, as identified in the Confidential Manual, for processing all such debit, credit, rewards, and Gift/Loyalty card transactions.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
Payment of the Royalty Fee, Advertising Fee (as defined in Section 5.3), and all other fees due under this Agreement to us shall be made via electronic transfer of funds from the Depository Account.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
You are required to accept debit and credit cards and Gift/Loyalty Cards from consumers at the Franchised Business and participate in any online ordering programs which Franchisor may require.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
Additionally, you must employ on a full time basis at least one on-premises supervisor (the “Manager”) for the restaurant.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesItem 16
You may only use products, materials, ingredients, supplies, paper goods, uniforms, fixtures, furnishings, signs, equipment, POS System, debit and credit card and Gift/Loyalty Card processing service, and methods of product preparation and delivery that meet our requirements as specified in the Confidential Manual.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Prior to the opening of your Franchised Business, you will be required to acquire, to maintain, and to exclusively use an approved cash register/computer system (“POS System”) during the operation of the Franchised Business.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
The POS System must be configured so that we have independent and remote access to the information and data stored in it.
Training
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
Attendance at these additional training programs and conferences is mandatory.
The filing answers no to 1 question
- Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Franchise agreement
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
The franchisor's owner/CEO decides; an ops or franchise-development lead may evaluate.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- 41.9% of quick service brands mandate no POS system, leaving a massive blind spot in your target list.By instantly identifying the 452 brands with no POS mandate, you replace weeks of manual FDD research and focus your pipeline on high-fit displacement targets, cutting customer acquisition cost by over 60%.
- 82.3% of brands mandate no accounting system, signaling a wide-open market for tech vendors.FranCloud surfaces the 888 brands without an accounting mandate so your team can prioritize outreach before competitors even know they exist, turning a manual research cost center into a predictable revenue engine.
- Only 17 out of 1,079 quick service brands mandate a CRM, yet unit counts and AUVs prove these are high-value accounts.Instead of spending 40+ hours manually combing FDDs to find CRM-needy brands, FranCloud delivers the 17 mandate-holders and their financials in one query, letting your team close deals 10x faster.
The vendor opportunity at Blimpie
Blimpie is a quick-service restaurant chain headquartered in Arizona with 88 total units, of which 84 are franchised and 4 are company-owned. The system is in contraction, posting a -13.4% year-over-year unit decline. For software vendors, the addressable market is concentrated: 66 mapped operators control approximately 86 located units, with only 5 operators running multi-unit portfolios of 2 to 9 locations. The top states by unit count are Georgia (33), New Jersey (15), New York (7), Idaho (5), and Iowa (3). No single operator controls 10 or more units, meaning no large franchisee group dominates purchasing. This fragmentation means HQ mandates carry significant weight, but multi-unit operators may still hold some independent buying influence.
Who controls software purchasing
Blimpie’s 2026 FDD lists its HQ leadership in Item 1. The key executives are Eric Lefebvre (Chief Executive Officer), Renee St-Onge (Chief Financial Officer), Jeff Smit (Chief Operating Officer), Anthony Crosby (Senior Vice President of Restaurant Operations), and Blake Borwick (Vice President of Restaurant Operations). For a software vendor, the likely buying center includes the CEO and COO for strategic decisions, with the SVP of Restaurant Operations influencing operational tools. The CFO is the gatekeeper for financial approvals. No dedicated CIO or CTO is listed, suggesting technology purchasing is managed within the operations leadership team. The chain appears independently owned, with no parent company on file, so decisions are not filtered through a larger corporate structure.
Mandated and current tech stack
Blimpie mandates Olo by Olo Inc. for its online ordering platform. This is the only technology vendor explicitly named in the FDD. No point-of-sale, back-office, inventory, or labor management systems are disclosed as mandated or recommended. For vendors selling complementary or replacement technology, this creates a clear picture: Olo is entrenched for digital ordering, but the rest of the stack is unspecified. A vendor pitching a POS, payroll, or supply chain solution would need to navigate an HQ that has already demonstrated willingness to mandate a specific vendor when it sees strategic value. The absence of other named systems could signal either a hands-off approach to franchisee tech choices or simply a lack of disclosure.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD provides no extract on procurement rules, leaving the purchasing model opaque. This could mean franchisees have latitude to select their own vendors outside of the Olo mandate, or it could simply be undisclosed. Item 17 outlines renewal conditions: franchisees may renew for a single 5-year term, provided they give at least 210 days’ notice, are not in default, have not received more than 3 default notices during the initial term (or more than 2 in the prior 5 years), and sign a new agreement that may have materially different terms. They must also pay a renewal fee and remodel if required. The 10-year initial term and single 5-year renewal mean franchisees face a 15-year maximum relationship. With system-wide unit counts shrinking, new store openings are unlikely to drive software adoption. Vendors should focus on displacing incumbents at existing units, particularly as franchisees approach renewal and may be required to remodel or update operations.
How to read the Blimpie FDD
The 2026 Blimpie Franchise Disclosure Document is the definitive source for vendor due diligence. Item 1 identifies the executives who control purchasing. Item 11 names Olo as the mandated online ordering system. Item 17 defines the renewal cycle that shapes when franchisees are most likely to evaluate new technology. The full FDD is embedded below for your review. For a ranked target list of the 5 multi-unit Blimpie operators and the HQ contacts most likely to engage, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
Blimpie, answered from the filing
The buying center includes CEO Eric Lefebvre, COO Jeff Smit, and SVP of Restaurant Operations Anthony Crosby. As a small, HQ-controlled chain, major software decisions likely require executive approval.
The 2026 FDD mandates Olo by Olo Inc. for online ordering. No other point-of-sale or operational technology vendors are named as mandated or recommended in the disclosure.
Blimpie has 88 total units in the US, consisting of 84 franchised and 4 company-owned locations. This represents a 13.4% decline from the prior year.
The FDD does not disclose a specific procurement model in Item 8. The absence of an extract suggests no designated supplier mandates beyond the named Olo requirement for technology.
Franchisees can renew for a single 5-year term with 210 days' notice. The 10-year initial term and recent unit closures suggest limited near-term expansion, making replacement of incumbent tech the primary opportunity.
The 2026 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can review the full document in the embedded PDF viewer below for detailed Item 11 tech disclosures and Item 1 executive listings.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Blimpie files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
66 operators run 86 mapped locations. 5 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit61
2–9 units5
Top states by locations
| GA | 33 |
|---|---|
| NJ | 15 |
| NY | 7 |
| ID | 5 |
| IA | 3 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Blimpie
strategic_multibrand of MTY Food Group.
Sibling brands
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.