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From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Giordano's
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing decisions at Giordano's are controlled at the corporate level by executives including Nicholas Scarpino (CEO) and David Poole (President/CFO). The franchise currently mandates Facebook and Twitter in its tech stack. With 56 total units (32 franchised, 24 company-owned), the addressable market is concentrated in Illinois.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
56
32 franchised
Unit growth YoY
0%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2024
Royalty
6%
of gross sales
Ad fund
3%
national + local
Initial fee
$40K
per unit
Investment range
$633K–$1.01M
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.
9%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
Systems named in Item 11 of this filing. None is recorded as mandated here, which is not the same as the filing mandating nothing. Read Item 11 before treating the category as open.
TwitterX
lish or participate in any “Giordano’s®”-related blog or other online discussion forum without our prior written consent. We may maintain one or more social media sites (e.g., www.twitter.com, www.fac
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
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We will have independent access to the information or data via modem or otherwise, and there are no contractual limitations on our right to access the information and data.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
We currently require you to purchase certain specially formulated proprietary products; our secret spice blend (“Spice Blend”) and other proprietary products; and Giordano’s® brand products only from our affiliate, Americana (see Item 1 of this Disclosure Document).
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
We may modify all standards and specifications may be modified at any time.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
9041161Item 8
During 2025, Americana received $9,041,161 for purchases by franchisees.
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?
75Item 8
For Limited-Service Restaurants, required purchases from approved suppliers, including us or our affiliates, will represent approximately 10% to 12% of your total purchases in connection with the establishment of your Restaurant and approximately 75% to 85% of your overall annual purchases in operating the Restaurant.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
You must also pay a reasonable non-refundable fee to make the evaluation (see Item 6).
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you give us sufficient prior written notice that you wish to purchase equipment, supplies or food (other than those designated products and supplies which must be purchased from Americana or another designated supplier) from any supplier or distributor not already approved by us, then we will not unreasonably…
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You must comply with all payment card industry (PCI) data security standards.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
33 A. Inspections. .......................................................................................................................
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
Furnish you with any amendments, revisions or supplements to Manual, all of which will be effective seven days after receipt.
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 register any domain name for use with your Restaurant. We will obtain and register a designated domain name for your use.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 7
You must spend a minimum of $15,000 for a Limited-Service Restaurant or $20,000 for a Full-Service Restaurant on approved grand opening advertising.
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 develop local advertising materials for your own use, at your own cost, and spend at least $1,000 per month for local advertising and promotions for your Restaurant.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesItem 11
You must participate in all online programs we mandate, which may include e-commerce (online ordering), delivery dispatch, loyalty, gift card, and promotion management.
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
If an association of Giordano’s® Restaurant franchisees is established in the geographic area in which your Restaurant is located (the “Local Co-op”), you must also join and actively participate in the Local Co-op.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all products, materials and supplies only from distributors and other suppliers approved by us.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all products, materials and supplies only from distributors and other suppliers approved by us.
Payments
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 11
You must participate in all online programs we mandate, which may include e-commerce (online ordering), delivery dispatch, loyalty, gift card, and promotion management.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 11
For a Limited-Service Restaurant, Franchisee’s Management Team will include the General Manager and one assistant manager, and if applicable, Franchisee (or managing partner or senior officer of Franchisee).
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You must use the point-of-sale software program we specify (currently, Toast).
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We will have independent access to the information or data via modem or otherwise, and there are no contractual limitations on our right to access the information and data.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
You must pay to us our then-current per diem fee (which is currently $500 per day for each representative of ours conducting such training) for each eight-hour day such training continues.
The filing answers no to 3 questions
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 20
- Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?Item 8
- Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?Item 11
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 Giordano's
Giordano's operates as a quick-service restaurant brand with a total of 56 units, of which 32 are franchised and 24 are company-owned. The brand is part of VPC Pizza Operating, though the nature of the ownership structure is not detailed in the FDD. The operator footprint is small and concentrated: 3 mapped operators control approximately 3 located units, all of which are in Illinois. No multi-unit operators are recorded in the data, with the unit-band split showing a single operator in the 1-unit range and none in the 2-9, 10-24, or 25+ bands. For a software vendor, the immediate addressable market is 56 locations, with the highest density in Illinois.
Who controls software purchasing
Software purchasing authority sits at the headquarters level. The FDD lists Nicholas Scarpino as Chief Executive Officer and David Poole as President and Chief Financial Officer, making them the primary economic buyers for enterprise-level software. Operational influence comes from Tom Fife, Director of Franchise Operations, Maria Reichl, Vice President of Operations, and Nihad Cehic, Senior Director of New Restaurant Openings and Operational Excellence. Any vendor pitching a platform that touches store operations, financials, or franchise management will need to engage this group. There is no multi-unit operator class to act as a secondary buying center, which simplifies the sales motion to a single HQ-driven decision.
Mandated and current tech stack
The 2026 FDD is notably sparse on mandated technology. The only systems explicitly named are Facebook and Twitter, which are listed as mandated or recommended tech. No point-of-sale, back-office, inventory, or labor management systems are disclosed in the document. This absence suggests either a light technology mandate or that such systems are left to franchisee discretion without being codified in the FDD. For vendors, this represents a greenfield opportunity to introduce operational or financial software, but it also means you will need to discover the incumbent stack during discovery calls, as the FDD provides no competitive intelligence on existing vendors.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Procurement rules are not detailed in the FDD. Item 8, which typically outlines designated or approved supplier requirements, contains no extract. This means the franchise does not publicly constrain purchasing through a mandated supplier list in its disclosure document. Renewal terms, however, are clearly defined in Item 17. A franchisee in good standing has the option to renew for two successive five-year terms. Conditions include providing timely notice, making required capital expenditures, signing the then-current form of Franchise Agreement (which may differ materially from the original), and paying a renewal fee equal to 15% of the then-current Initial Franchise Fee. These renewal events, occurring at the 10-year and 15-year marks, are natural triggers for technology re-evaluation and vendor switching.
How to read the Giordano's FDD
The full Giordano's Franchise Disclosure Document is available for review below. When reading, pay close attention to Item 11 for any updates to mandated technology that may not be captured in this summary, and Item 8 for any future supplier restrictions. The document was filed with state franchise regulators in 2026. For vendors building a ranked target list of franchise brands, understanding these FDD signals is critical to prioritizing outreach. Talk to FranCloud to generate a data-driven list of franchise systems that match your ideal customer profile.
Questions vendors ask
Giordano's, answered from the filing
The buying center includes Nicholas Scarpino (CEO), David Poole (President/CFO), and operational leaders like Tom Fife (Director of Franchise Operations) and Maria Reichl (VP of Operations).
The 2026 FDD does not disclose a mandated POS or operational system. The only mandated technologies named are the social media platforms Facebook and Twitter.
There are 56 total units, consisting of 32 franchised and 24 company-owned locations. The operator footprint is concentrated in Illinois, with 3 mapped operators across 3 located units.
The procurement model is not disclosed in the most recent FDD. Item 8 contains no extract regarding designated or approved suppliers.
With a 10-year initial term and an option to renew for two additional 5-year terms, contract windows may align with renewal cycles. Good standing and a renewal fee of 15% of the then-current initial franchise fee are required.
The Giordano's FDD was filed with state franchise regulators in 2026. You can read the full document in the embedded PDF viewer below.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Giordano's files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
3 operators run 3 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit3
Top states by locations
| IL | 3 |
|---|
Ownership
The portfolio behind Giordano's
unknown of vpc pizza operating.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated August 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.