QuickBooks
Mandatoryfranchise fee. 12. These expenses include tools and other equipment needed for the assembly of awards products, ancillary software (such as the ACT customer database software and QuickBooks), venting
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Crown Trophy
Retail non foodSoftware purchasing at Crown Trophy is controlled from its New York headquarters, where President and COO Charles Weisenfeld and EVP of Franchise Operations Scott Kelly are the key executives on file. The most recent FDD does not disclose any mandated or recommended technology systems, suggesting an open tech landscape for vendors. With 127 franchised units across the US, the addressable market is small but concentrated, with a single-unit operator base that may rely heavily on HQ guidance for software decisions.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
127
127 franchised
Unit growth YoY
-1.55%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$35K
per unit
Investment range
$186K–$228K
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.
7%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.
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
22 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 5 explicit no's; 7 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You must also obtain, install, and use the computer software programs, accounting system software that we require (“Required Software”).
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesItem 11
Under Article X of the Franchise Agreement, and as detailed in the Confidential Operations Manual, franchisees must submit a monthly Customer Sales Summary Report, monthly Franchisor Royalty Statement Invoice and an Annual Report of Sales by each customer and purchases from each vendor for the previous year.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
We are one of those suppliers, as is our affiliate, Crown Awards.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 11
Since 2003 we have maintained a Franchise Advisory Council, consisting of a representative group of Crown Trophy franchise owners chosen by the franchise owners and representatives of Crown Trophy management.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Additionally, Franchisor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to vary the standards throughout the System, as well as the services and assistance that Franchisor may provide to some franchisees based upon the peculiarities of a particular site or circumstance, existing business practices, or other factors that…
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
8330656Item 8
In addition, Awards received $8,330,656 from the sale of Products to franchisees.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We and our affiliate reserve the right to receive rebates or commissions from suppliers.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you want to buy products from other than approved suppliers, you must submit to us a written request to approve the proposed supplier, together with evidence that they meet our specifications.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee acknowledges that all telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, Internet domain names, telephone directory or domain name listings or domain name search engine registrations for the Store or otherwise utilized by Franchisee in connection with the operation of the Franchise shall be the property of Franchisor…
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees to comply with the then-current Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards as those standards may be revised and modified by the PCI Security Standards Council, LLC (see www.pcisecuritystandards.org), or any successor organization or standards that Franchisor may reasonably specify.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
We will conduct, as we deem advisable, inspections of your Store.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
We have the right to change the Operations Manual during the Term of your Franchise Agreement as we deem appropriate.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You must obtain our written approval before opening the Franchised Business, which approval will not be unreasonably withheld, and must open the Franchised Business within 90 days after the date of the Franchise Agreement.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesItem 11
You may not operate or maintain a website or similar item in connection with or related to the Franchised Business, nor may you advertise, sell or offer to sell any Products through the Internet or any other form of electronic, wireless or other remote form of commerce, whether currently existing or hereafter…
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 11
Currently, the portion of the Advertising Contribution that is contributed to the Advertising Fund is 0% of Gross Sales, and 2% of Gross Sales must be spent on local advertising.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all of these products solely from suppliers who demonstrate to our continuing reasonable satisfaction the ability to meet our standards and specifications, who possess adequate quality controls and capacity to supply your needs promptly and reliably, and who have been approved by us in the Manual or…
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase your Start-Up Package solely from us or from our designated vendors.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees not to use any Credit Card Vendor for which Franchisor has not given Franchisee prior written approval or as to which Franchisor has revoked its earlier approval.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesFranchise agreement
Within sixty (60) days of the opening of the Franchised Business and for the remainder of the Term, Franchisee shall employ at least one full-time staff member, other than Franchisee, who is trained in the engraving and trophy assembly aspects of the business.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall record all sales on computer-based point of sale systems approved by Franchisor or on such other types of cash registers as may be designated by Franchisor in the Manual or otherwise in writing
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
You and your manager must also attend additional courses, seminars and other training programs as we may reasonably require periodically.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 11
You will also be required to attend our mandatory annual conference at a location which lasts 4 to 5 days.
The filing answers no to 5 questions
- Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?Item 11
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Item 11
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11
- Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?Item 6
- Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?Item 11
The vendor opportunity at Crown Trophy
Crown Trophy is a retail non-food franchise with 127 locations, all of which are franchised. The brand’s footprint is small and contracting slightly, with a year-over-year unit decline of 1.55%. The operator base is entirely single-unit: all nine mapped operators run a single location, and no multi-unit operators are on file. The top states by unit count are Pennsylvania (3), North Carolina (2), New Jersey (1), New York (1), and Virginia (1). For a software vendor, this is a compact target. The total addressable market is 127 units, but the absence of company-owned stores means every sale must go through a franchisee or earn a nod from HQ.
Average unit volume (AUV) is not disclosed in the 2026 FDD. The royalty rate is 5.0% of gross sales, and the initial franchise term is five years. These economics suggest operators are cost-conscious, making a clear ROI case essential in any software pitch.
Who controls software purchasing
Decision-making authority sits at the top. The FDD lists Charles Weisenfeld as President and Chief Operating Officer, and Scott Kelly as Executive Vice President of Franchise Operations. Elyse Weisenfeld serves as Secretary/Treasurer, while John Mooney holds a Vice President role. Susan LaGrutta is the Executive Assistant and Bookkeeper. In a system this size, the President/COO and EVP of Franchise Operations are the most likely software buyers or approvers. There is no CIO, CTO, or dedicated IT role on file, which means technology decisions likely fall to operations leadership.
Because every franchisee is a single-unit operator, HQ influence over technology adoption is probably high. Even without a formal mandate, a recommendation from Charles Weisenfeld or Scott Kelly could drive adoption across the system.
Mandated and current tech stack
The 2026 FDD does not name any mandated or recommended technology systems. No POS provider, no inventory management platform, no CRM, and no e-commerce vendor appear in the captured data. This is unusual and represents a blank slate for software vendors. The absence of an incumbent means there is no displacement hurdle, but it also means you will need to build the business case from scratch. Crown Trophy’s franchisees may be using a patchwork of consumer-grade or legacy tools, creating an opportunity to introduce a unified operational platform.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so there is no evidence of a designated supplier program. In practice, this likely means franchisees can choose their own vendors, subject to HQ approval. The renewal process offers a potential trigger for software conversations. To renew, a franchisee must provide written notice within a specified window, not be in default, satisfy all monetary obligations, sign a new Franchise Agreement that may contain materially different terms, renovate the premises, sign a general release, and meet then-current financial and training requirements. The renewal term is five years. If HQ uses the renewal process to introduce new operational standards, that could be a moment to embed new technology requirements.
With negative unit growth, the franchisor’s priority is likely stabilizing the existing base rather than recruiting new franchisees. Software that helps operators improve margins or reduce labor costs will resonate more than tools aimed at scaling.
How to read the Crown Trophy FDD
The full Crown Trophy Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. It was filed with state franchise regulators in 2026. The document contains the legal and financial disclosures that govern the franchise relationship, including Item 1 (key executives), Item 11 (franchisor’s assistance, advertising, computer systems, and training), Item 17 (renewal, termination, transfer, and dispute resolution), and Item 19 (financial performance representations, if any). For software vendors, Item 11 is the most relevant section for understanding any existing technology mandates, while Item 1 reveals the people who make or influence purchasing decisions. If you are building a ranked target list for franchise sales, FranCloud can help you prioritize systems like this one based on tech gaps, decision-maker access, and unit economics.
Questions vendors ask
Crown Trophy, answered from the filing
The buying center is small. Charles Weisenfeld (President/COO) and Scott Kelly (EVP Franchise Operations) are the senior leaders on file. Susan LaGrutta (Executive Assistant) may gatekeep initial outreach.
The 2026 FDD does not capture any mandated or recommended POS, operational, or other technology systems. The stack appears to be open or unspecified.
There are 127 total units, all franchised. No company-owned locations are reported. Unit growth declined by 1.55% year-over-year.
The FDD provides no extract for Item 8 procurement restrictions. Without a designated supplier mandate, the model likely defaults to approved supplier or open purchasing.
With a 5-year initial term and renewal requiring a new agreement with potentially different terms, windows may align with renewal cycles. Recent negative unit growth suggests a focus on retention, not expansion.
The FDD was filed with state franchise regulators in 2026. You can read the full document using the embedded PDF viewer below.
Source
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Crown Trophy files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
120 operators run 120 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit120
Top states by locations
| NY | 14 |
|---|---|
| TX | 11 |
| FL | 9 |
| NJ | 8 |
| NC | 6 |
Related Retail non food brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.