Focus POS
Mandatoryoved supplier (see Item 8). Computer Hardware and Software You must purchase and use computer hardware and software that we specify. Currently, you must purchase a POS system from Focus POS and a back
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
FOSTER'S FRANCHISE CONCEPTS
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Foster's Franchise Concepts is controlled at the headquarters level by a tight executive team including President Michael J. Cerny and VP of Operations Cire Lo. The system mandates Focus POS and QuickBooks Pro across its 12 total units. With 5 franchised and 7 company-owned locations, the addressable market is small but concentrated, making a direct HQ pitch essential.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
12
5 franchised
Unit growth YoY
0%
vs prior filing
AUV
$1.00M
Item 19, 2024
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
3%
national + local
Initial fee
$40K
per unit
Investment range
$259K–$539K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
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 (FY2025)
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; 3 explicit no's; 9 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
You must use computerized record-keeping and accounting systems as we require.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You must provide us annually, within 3 months after your fiscal year end, with a statement of revenue, expenses and income (or loss) for the year, and a statement of assets and liabilities as of the end of the year, which statements must be prepared in accordance with accounting methods we accept.
How the franchisor buys
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 11
We may form an advertising council of franchisees.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
This arrangement with our approved suppliers is subject to change without notice.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
In our fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, some of our approved suppliers paid us rebates.
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?
20Item 8
Purchases/leases from approved suppliers 25% to 30% 20% to 35%
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
You may request in writing our approval of additional suppliers.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesItem 11
We will own all rights to the listings, and you must transfer them to us on the expiration, termination, repurchase or transfer of the franchise, at your expense.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
at any reasonable time to ensure compliance with all terms of this Agreement, which inspection may include photographs of the premises and interviews of your Manager, employees and independent contractors to ascertain their knowledge of and compliance with the System, as well as interviews with your customers to…
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree that we may modify the System, and that modifications to the System may require modifications to our manuals, including the Confidential Operations Manual.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You may not sign a lease for a proposed site until you have submitted a copy of the lease to us and received our written approval.
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 your own website.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 11
You must advertise and promote the opening of your business according to a grand opening marketing program we approve.
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
You must spend at least 1% of your annual Gross Sales on local advertising.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesItem 11
We may require you to participate in a system-wide gift card or loyalty card incentive program from our approved supplier (see Item 8).
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
You must participate in any cooperative advertising program established in your region if we require your participation.
Operations
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Currently, you must subscribe to an online computer network that we designate, obtain products and services such as the electronic point-of-sale cash register system, specified food and beverage products, specified equipment and supplies, vending machines, safe, security/alarm system, signs and promotional products…
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
Your payments to us may be effectuated by the use of pre-authorized electronic transfers from your operating account that we will process when any payment is due, including royalties and advertising contributions.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 16
You must offer for sale and honor any incentive or convenience programs for customers that we may periodically institute, including any gift-card programs, in compliance with our standards and specifications for the programs (see Items 8 and 11 for more information).
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You must purchase and use computer hardware and software that we specify.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
As a component of your POS system, you must subscribe to an online computer network on which we will have the ability to access your accounting and record-keeping data.
Training
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 11
Each year at our option, we may schedule a regional or national conference. You (or your managing shareholder, partner, or member) must attend this conference.
The filing answers no to 3 questions
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?Item 8
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 franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.
OwnerCEOPresidentPrincipal
- 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%.
- 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.
- 97.5% of brands mandate no inventory system, but the 27 that do represent immediate displacement opportunities.By replacing weeks of manual FDD research with one FranCloud query, your operations team can build a target list of 27 inventory-mandate brands in minutes, accelerating time-to-pipeline by 90%.
The vendor opportunity at Foster's Franchise Concepts
Foster's Franchise Concepts operates a small but focused quick-service restaurant system with 12 total units, split between 7 company-owned and 5 franchised locations. The average unit volume sits at $1,000,481, with a 5.0% royalty rate and a standard 10-year initial term. For software vendors, the immediate addressable market is the 5 franchised units, though the 7 company-owned locations represent a potential proving ground if you can win HQ's attention. The system is part of Zeuss, LC, a parent company that may influence broader procurement strategy, though no details are disclosed in the 2025 FDD.
Who controls software purchasing
Decision-making is centralized at headquarters. The 2025 FDD lists four executives: Michael J. Cerny (President), Cire Lo (Vice President of Operations), Peg Contrucci (Secretary/Treasurer), and Joseph Contrucci (General Counsel). For a software pitch, President Michael J. Cerny and VP of Operations Cire Lo are the most likely buyers. There are no multi-unit operators in the system—all 6 mapped operators are single-unit franchisees—so there is no intermediate layer of franchisee influence to navigate. A direct HQ engagement is the only viable path.
Mandated and current tech stack
The technology landscape is sparse and explicitly mandated. Focus POS is required across the system, and QuickBooks Pro is mandated for financial management. No other operational, HR, inventory, or marketing platforms are disclosed in the FDD. This creates a clear integration story: any new software must complement or enhance the existing Focus POS and QuickBooks Pro environment. Vendors offering add-ons for Focus POS or bridging operational gaps not covered by the current stack have a natural entry point.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Procurement rules are not disclosed in the 2025 FDD. Item 8 contains no extract, meaning there is no public information on whether Foster's uses designated suppliers, an approved supplier program, or an open purchasing model. Vendors will need to uncover this during discovery. On timing, the franchise agreement runs for 10 years with successive 10-year renewal terms. Renewal is conditional on signing the then-current agreement, which the FDD explicitly warns may contain materially different terms, including fees and territorial rights. This creates potential re-evaluation windows at each renewal cycle, though with only 5 franchised units, the cadence will be infrequent.
How to read the Foster's Franchise Concepts FDD
The full 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document is embedded below. Key sections for software vendors include Item 1 (executive team and parent company), Item 11 (mandated POS and accounting systems), and Item 17 (renewal conditions that signal contract windows). Item 8 is silent on procurement, so plan to address supplier onboarding directly with HQ. The operator footprint in Item 20 confirms a concentrated geography—Maryland, Virginia, and Florida—which may influence deployment and support requirements.
For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help you prioritize outreach based on tech mandates, unit counts, and decision-maker access.
Questions vendors ask
FOSTER'S FRANCHISE CONCEPTS, answered from the filing
The buying center is small. President Michael J. Cerny and VP of Operations Cire Lo are the key executives listed in the 2025 FDD. Pitch operational efficiency and integration with mandated systems directly to them.
The 2025 FDD mandates Focus POS and QuickBooks Pro. No other operational or back-office systems are disclosed as required or recommended.
There are 12 total units: 7 company-owned and 5 franchised. The operator footprint is concentrated in Maryland (3), Virginia (2), and Florida (1).
The procurement model is not disclosed in the 2025 FDD. Item 8 contains no extract regarding designated or approved suppliers, leaving the purchasing process unspecified for vendors.
Franchise agreements run for 10-year terms with renewal rights for successive 10-year periods. Renewal requires signing the then-current agreement, which may contain materially different terms, creating potential re-evaluation windows.
The 2025 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can review the full document in the embedded PDF viewer below for detailed legal and operational disclosures.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment FOSTER'S FRANCHISE CONCEPTS files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
6 operators run 6 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit6
Top states by locations
| MD | 3 |
|---|---|
| VA | 2 |
| FL | 1 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind FOSTER'S FRANCHISE CONCEPTS
single_brand_holdco of Rockytop Group.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.