Google Business ProfileGoogle
Mandatoryific usernames/handles that you must maintain. You must provide us with full administrator access to all Digital Marketing accounts. You must provide ownership-level access to any Google My Business C
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Fado
Retail non foodSoftware purchasing at Fado is controlled at the headquarters level by a lean executive team including CEO Sasha Micoretti, CFO Lisa Hickey, and COO Nick Ammaturo. The franchise currently operates just 3 total units (1 franchised, 2 company-owned), making it a micro-target for vendors. The mandated tech stack already includes Lightspeed POS and QuickBooks.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
3
1 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2023
Royalty
6%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$50K
per unit
Investment range
$193K–$509K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisor controlled
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.
8%of gross sales (FY2023)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
3 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.
InstagramMeta
Mandatorycess to an Instagram account which you will maintain in connection with our System Standards and social medial policies. You must provide us with full administrator access to your Instagram account. W
LightspeedLightspeed
Mandatoryithout our written approval and you must provide us with all access codes necessary for full access to your information. Currently, we require that you obtain a license to use the Lightspeed POS syste
FacebookMeta
e Internet without our permission. Digital Marketing: We may, in our sole discretion, establish and operate websites (including the System Website), social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter, I
PinterestPinterest
ion. Digital Marketing: We may, in our sole discretion, establish and operate websites (including the System Website), social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.), ap
QuickBooksIntuit
e the Lightspeed POS system. You will also have to obtain a MacBook computer; required credit card processing system, barcode scanner, printer, Microsoft Suite and subscription to QuickBooks. Fado FDD
TwitterX
without our permission. Digital Marketing: We may, in our sole discretion, establish and operate websites (including the System Website), social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, P
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
25 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 5 explicit no's; 4 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?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchise must establish and maintain at its own expense a bookkeeping, accounting, and record keeping system conforming to the requirements and formats (including, at Franchisor’s option, the accounting principles) that Franchisor prescribes from time to time in the Manuals and otherwise in writing.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We must have independent access to this information and data.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must provide Franchisor with the following reports, in the manner and format that Franchisor prescribes from time to time.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
We and/or our affiliates may be Suppliers.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor may provide Franchisee with a list of Suppliers for Operating Assets and may revise the approved list of Suppliers from time to time as Franchisor deems best.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
0Item 8
Neither we nor our affiliates received any revenue during the last fiscal year for purchases or leases from franchisees.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor and its affiliates reserve the right to receive rebates, overrides or other consideration on account of Franchisee’s purchases from any Supplier.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
60Item 8
approximately 60% to 80% in the continuing operation of the Store (exclusive of your expenditures for rent and overhead)
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you want to independently source any items from someone other than one of our Suppliers, you must obtain our prior approval.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must also comply with all data privacy and data protection laws and payment card provider standards relating to the security of the Computer System, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor and its designated representatives have the right before Franchisee commences operations of the Store and thereafter from time to time during Franchisee’s regular business hours, and without prior notice to Franchisee, to (i) inspect and evaluate the Store, (ii) observe, videotape, photograph, or otherwise…
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor periodically may modify its System Standards, which may accommodate regional or local variations, and these modifications may obligate Franchisee to invest additional capital in the Franchised Business location and/or incur higher operating costs.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You must obtain our approval for an acceptable site and lease for the location within 180 days of executing 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 establish or maintain any other website for your Store or use the Marks or other proprietary information in any way other than as provided in the Franchise Agreement and Manual, including on the Internet.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must spend a minimum of $1,000 to $3,000, as determined by Franchisor in its sole discretion, in connection with its Grand Opening Marketing program.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesItem 8
You must participate in gift card, coupon, electronic payment, certificate and customer loyalty programs as required by us.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
you must obtain certain goods, services, supplies, merchandise, materials, fixtures, furnishings, equipment (including computer hardware and software) and other products used only from our designated or approved suppliers, vendors, manufacturers, printers, contractors, and distributors (“Suppliers”)
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
you must obtain certain goods, services, supplies, merchandise, materials, fixtures, furnishings, equipment (including computer hardware and software) and other products used only from our designated or approved suppliers, vendors, manufacturers, printers, contractors, and distributors (“Suppliers”)
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
All fees are payable to us by ACH or electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) from your designated bank account on the date due or such other method as we may designate.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 8
You must participate in gift card, coupon, electronic payment, certificate and customer loyalty programs as required by us.
People
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
System Standards do not include any mandatory requirements on Franchisee’s employee’s wages, working conditions, hours, staffing levels, shift timing or other terms of employment, but may specify uniforms and appearance to meet brand standards.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
Currently, we require that you purchase or lease the Lightspeed Retail POS which is a web-based software platform operated Fado FDD 2023 (April 28, 2023) 14 from a desktop computer.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We must have independent access to this information and data.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 6
For all other additional training provided to you or your employees whether requested by your or required by us, you must pay the then-current training fee which is currently $100 per hour plus our costs and expenses.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 6
If we hold a system wide meeting, you must attend, pay our then-current fee and any costs you may incur in connection with your attendance.
The filing answers no to 5 questions
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
- Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Item 11
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Franchise agreement
- Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?Franchise agreement
The vendor opportunity at Fado
Fado is a retail non-food franchise headquartered in Florida with a total footprint of 3 units—1 franchised location and 2 company-owned stores. For a software vendor, the addressable market here is tiny. You are not selling into a sprawling system; you are selling into a single decision-making hub that controls both corporate and franchised operations. The upside is that if you win the account, penetration is effectively 100%.
The most recent Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is from 2023. It does not report an Average Unit Volume (AUV) or year-over-year unit growth, so sizing the revenue opportunity per location is not possible from public filings alone. The royalty rate is 6.0% of gross sales, and the initial franchise term runs 10 years.
Who controls software purchasing
Software purchasing authority sits entirely at headquarters. The FDD Item 1 lists three executives: Sasha Micoretti (CEO and President), Lisa Hickey (CFO and Chief Merchant), and Nick Ammaturo (COO). In a system this small, these three individuals are your buying committee. The CFO and Chief Merchant dual role held by Lisa Hickey is particularly relevant—she likely controls both the budget and the operational requirements that software would need to satisfy.
There are no multi-unit operators mapped in our corpus, meaning no franchisee with enough scale to influence or bypass HQ technology decisions. Every software pitch runs through the same small leadership team.
Mandated and current tech stack
Fado’s Item 11 disclosures show a mandated technology stack that is already fairly specific. The franchise requires Lightspeed POS and Lightspeed Retail POS, both by Lightspeed Commerce Inc. For accounting, QuickBooks by Intuit Inc. is mandated. Google My Business Center is also listed as a required system.
This tells you several things. First, the POS environment is locked into Lightspeed, so any software that needs to integrate at the point of sale must work within that ecosystem. Second, the accounting backbone is Intuit QuickBooks, which defines the integration surface for financial tools, payroll, or analytics that pull general ledger data. Third, the mandate for Google My Business Center signals at least some attention to local digital presence, though with only 3 units this is a lightweight requirement.
Any vendor pitching Fado should come prepared to discuss Lightspeed and QuickBooks compatibility explicitly. If your tool competes with or replaces any of these mandated systems, you need a compelling displacement argument that reaches the CEO and CFO directly.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The FDD does not include an Item 8 extract, so we cannot confirm whether Fado uses designated suppliers, approved suppliers, or an open procurement model. This is a gap you will need to close in discovery. In practice, a system of this size likely makes ad hoc purchasing decisions rather than running formal RFPs.
Timing a software pitch around contract renewals is possible. The initial franchise agreement runs 10 years. Item 17 outlines renewal conditions for a 5-year successor term, including a requirement that franchisees give between six and nine months’ written notice before expiration. That notice window is your earliest signal that a franchisee is evaluating a renewal—and potentially open to operational changes that involve new software. The renewal also requires the franchisee to bring the store into full compliance with then-current standards, including installing new equipment packages. If Fado updates its tech mandates at the system level, that equipment refresh clause becomes a forced adoption event.
How to read the Fado FDD
The full 2023 Fado Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. For software vendors, the highest-value sections are Item 1 (the executives listed above), Item 11 (the mandated systems named here), and Item 17 (renewal timing and conditions). Item 8, if it appears in future filings, would clarify whether Fado controls procurement through designated suppliers or leaves it open. Until then, treat every software sale as a direct conversation with the C-suite.
If you are prioritizing franchise accounts by total addressable units, Fado will not top your list. But if your software is purpose-built for small retail chains running Lightspeed and QuickBooks, this is a clean, centralized target. For a ranked list of franchises that match your ideal customer profile, FranCloud can build that target list for you.
Questions vendors ask
Fado, answered from the filing
The buying center includes CEO Sasha Micoretti, CFO and Chief Merchant Lisa Hickey, and COO Nick Ammaturo. With only 3 units, decisions are highly centralized at the executive level.
Fado mandates Lightspeed POS and Lightspeed Retail POS by Lightspeed Commerce Inc., plus QuickBooks by Intuit Inc. and Google My Business Center.
Fado operates 3 total units in the US—1 franchised and 2 company-owned. It is a retail non-food concept headquartered in Florida.
The most recent FDD does not include an Item 8 extract specifying designated or approved suppliers. The procurement model is not publicly disclosed in the filing.
The initial franchise term is 10 years. Renewals require 6–9 months’ written notice and a 5-year successor term, creating potential windows around those renewal cycles.
The Fado 2023 Franchise Disclosure Document is available in the embedded viewer below. It was filed with state franchise regulators in 2023.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Fado files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Fado’s FDD on file does not disclose a franchisee directory.
Related Retail non food brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.