CityBird

The vendor opportunity at CityBird

CityBird is a quick-service restaurant concept with a small but high-performing footprint: 8 total units, of which 6 are company-owned and 2 are franchised. The brand reports an average unit volume of $605,024, signaling healthy per-location economics. For software vendors, the immediate addressable market is tight—just 8 locations—but the concentration of company-owned units means a single HQ relationship can unlock the majority of the system. Operators are spread across five states: Ohio (5), Washington (2), New York (1), Michigan (1), and Indiana (1). All 12 mapped operators are single-unit franchisees, with no multi-unit operators on file. This structure reinforces HQ’s central role in technology decisions.

Who controls software purchasing

Purchasing authority sits at the top. The 2025 FDD lists Alex Blust as Chief Operations Officer, a natural entry point for operational software. Co-Founders Johnathan Lanni and Joseph Lanni are also named in Item 1, and their involvement in strategic decisions is likely. Scotty Geiger, Vice President of Franchise Development, and Kyle Gardner, Vice President of Operations, round out the executive team. With no multi-unit operators and only two franchised locations, there is no distributed buying center to navigate. Vendors should direct outreach to the C-suite and operations leadership at headquarters.

Mandated and current tech stack

CityBird’s Item 11 disclosure is unambiguous: the brand mandates a Proprietary Software Program. No third-party POS, inventory management, scheduling, or accounting platforms are named in the FDD. This suggests the franchisor has built or commissioned a custom system that franchisees must adopt. For software vendors, this is both a barrier and a signal—any pitch must either integrate with or replace a locked-down proprietary environment. The absence of named third-party vendors means the current stack is effectively a black box to outsiders, but it also means there is no entrenched commercial relationship with an external POS or operations provider to dislodge.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

Item 8 of the 2025 FDD provides no extract on procurement requirements, leaving the designated-supplier or approved-supplier structure unclear. This silence may indicate an open procurement environment outside the mandated software, or it may simply mean the details are handled outside the FDD. Vendors should clarify during discovery. Renewal timing offers a potential window: franchise agreements run 10 years, and Item 17 outlines a renewal option for additional 10-year terms. To renew, franchisees must pay a $10,000 fee, remain in compliance, and either retain their site or secure an approved alternative. They must also refurbish or relocate as directed and sign the then-current franchise agreement, which may differ materially from the original. These renewal events, spaced a decade apart, are natural moments for technology reassessment.

How to read the CityBird FDD

The full CityBird Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. It was filed with state franchise regulators in 2025 and contains the legal and operational disclosures that govern the franchise relationship. For software vendors, the most relevant sections are Item 11 (the proprietary software mandate), Item 1 (executive team and ownership), and Item 17 (renewal conditions). The document also maps the operator footprint and unit economics that define the addressable market. Review it to validate your integration or replacement strategy before engaging the buying center. For a ranked target list of franchise systems aligned to your software category, FranCloud can help.