From the filings
Software purchasing at Giovanni's Franchise Services is controlled at the headquarters level by a small executive team led by President and CEO Tom Lemaster. The most recent Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) does not mandate any specific technology systems, leaving the current tech stack undefined for vendors. The addressable market consists of 98 franchised quick-service restaurant locations, all independently operated with no multi-unit owners on file.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Ongoing fee load
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
3.5%of gross sales (FY2025)
15% reference
Franchisor behaviours
21 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 8 explicit no's; 5 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
You will maintain your POS system on-line so that we may independently access them remotely at our discretion, copy your POS data, update software, and view all records, files, and reports available on or from those systems.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees to keep complete financial records for the Franchised Restaurant and furnish Franchisor with a monthly year-to-date profit and loss statement in the format prescribed by Franchisor.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesFranchise agreement
Such exclusive designated Approved Supplier may be Franchisor or any of its affiliates.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor and its affiliates may designate, from time to time, a single Approved Supplier for any services, products, goods, equipment, supplies or materials, including without limitation Special Items, and may require Franchisee to use such a designated supplier exclusively.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
28400000Item 8
During its last fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, our affiliate, GPI, received a total of approximately $28.4 million in revenues from 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?
38Item 8
All of your required purchases (which consist of items you must purchase from approved suppliers or in accordance with established specifications) will represent approximately 9% of your total opening expenses and approximately 38% - 41% of your total annual operating expenses.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you want to use a good or service or obtain a good or service from a supplier we have not yet approved, you first must submit sufficient information, specifications and/or samples for our determination whether the product or service complies with our System Standards, or the supplier meets our approved supplier…
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Upon request by Franchisor, Franchisee shall assign the telephone numbers, universal resource locator, domain name, and other links of the Franchised Restaurant to Franchisor or its designee.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesItem 1
Your Giovanni’s Pizza Restaurant must accept credit cards and will be obligated to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
We will also conduct inspections of your Giovanni’s Pizza Restaurant or reviews of your point-of-sale or financial data as we may deem necessary.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor may from time to time revise the contents of the Operations Manual, and Franchisee expressly agrees to comply with each new or changed System standard, specification or procedure set forth therein.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 12
You must operate the Franchised Restaurant only at the approved Location, and you may not relocate the Franchised Restaurant without first obtaining our written consent.
Marketing
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
If the Franchised Restaurant operates within a DMA for which an approved advertising cooperative exists, you are obligated to contribute to the advertising cooperative the amounts required by the cooperative up to two percent (2.00%) of the Gross Sales of the Franchised Restaurant during each month.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall purchase all equipment, products, services, supplies, and materials required for the operation of the Franchised Restaurant from manufacturers, suppliers, or distributors designated by Franchisor and its affiliates or, if there is no designated supplier for a particular product, equipment, service…
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall purchase all equipment, products, services, supplies, and materials required for the operation of the Franchised Restaurant from manufacturers, suppliers, or distributors designated by Franchisor and its affiliates or, if there is no designated supplier for a particular product, equipment, service…
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee is required to utilize GIOVANNI’S PROCESSING AND CORPORATE ______________ GIFT CARD SYSTEM for its credit card processing.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall implement a training program for Franchised Restaurant employees in accordance with training standards and procedures prescribed by Franchisor and shall staff the Franchised Restaurant at all times during the term of this Agreement with a sufficient number of trained employees including at least one…
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall adhere to all specifications contained in the Operations Manual, training materials or otherwise prescribed by Franchisor as to uniforms, systems, equipment, décor, supplies, menus, recipes, ingredients, methods of preparation and service, weight and dimensions of products served, and standards of…
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
The Operations Manual specifies what system you are required to use, and we must approve any changes to the specified system before you implement them.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
You will maintain your POS system on-line so that we may independently access them remotely at our discretion, copy your POS data, update software, and view all records, files, and reports available on or from those systems.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 6
We currently charge $70 per hour for any additional training requested by you after the initial training, based on our trainer’s actual hours on-site at your location.
Who buys here
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.
Giovanni's Franchise Services presents a compact but stable target for software vendors. The system comprises 98 franchised quick-service restaurant units, with no company-owned locations on file. Year-over-year unit growth sits at 2.083%, indicating slow but steady expansion. The entire operator footprint is concentrated in West Virginia, where 4 mapped operators control approximately 4 located units. Critically, the unit-band split shows all operators fall into the 1-unit category, with zero multi-unit operators. This means a sale into the franchisor does not automatically cascade across a large operator network, but it also means no single franchisee holds disproportionate bargaining power. The royalty rate is a modest 1.5% on gross sales, and the initial franchise term is 10 years.
Decision-making authority rests with a lean headquarters team in Kentucky. The 2025 FDD Item 1 lists the following executives: Tom Lemaster serves as President and Chief Executive Officer and Director; Vicki Lemaster Bruce is Secretary and Director; Brent Cordial holds the title of Vice President; David Perry is the Director of Operations; and Ken Kosobud is the Operations Manager. For a software vendor, the initial outreach should likely target the Director of Operations or the Operations Manager, as they are closest to the daily workflows that SaaS tools would impact, with the understanding that final budgetary approval almost certainly sits with the CEO. No Chief Information Officer or dedicated technology buyer is listed, which is typical for a system of this size.
The technology landscape at Giovanni's is a blank slate from a vendor's perspective. The 2025 FDD contains no captured data on mandated or recommended technology systems. This absence of a named POS provider, back-office platform, or inventory management tool means the franchisor does not force a specific stack onto its franchisees. For a software salesperson, this is a double-edged sword: there is no incumbent vendor to displace at the corporate mandate level, but you also cannot rely on a top-down mandate to drive adoption. You must sell value directly to the HQ team and potentially to individual operators. The renewal conditions, however, provide a lever, as they explicitly require franchisees to upgrade technology to meet current system standards upon renewal.
The procurement model is undefined in the available FDD data. Item 8, which would normally outline whether the franchisor designates specific suppliers or maintains an approved vendor list, contains no extract. This suggests an open procurement environment where the franchisor has not exercised tight control over vendor selection. The most actionable intelligence for timing your pitch lies in Item 17. Franchisees must sign the then-current franchise agreement upon renewal, for terms of 1 to 5 years. The renewal conditions explicitly state that the franchisee must "update and renovate the Franchised Restaurant as we deem necessary to meet our then-current System standards," including "upgrades to bring the technology and services offered at the Franchised Restaurant into conformity with standards at our new restaurants." This contractual hook means that as franchise agreements come up for renewal, the HQ team has the authority to mandate technology upgrades. Mapping the initial 10-year terms against the system's age will reveal when these windows are opening.
The 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document is the definitive source for understanding the legal and operational constraints of selling into this system. The embedded viewer below contains the full filing. When reviewing it, pay close attention to Item 11 for any future updates on mandated technology, and cross-reference Item 17 for the precise renewal language that can trigger a technology refresh cycle. For software vendors building a target account list, FranCloud can rank this franchise against your ideal customer profile and surface similar systems where the tech stack is undefined and the renewal cycle is about to open.
Questions vendors ask
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View only A one-time purchase: the original filing, yours to keep.
FDD alert
We’ll email you the moment Giovanni's Franchise Services files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
52 operators run 52 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Top states by locations
| KY | 41 |
|---|---|
| OH | 6 |
| VA | 2 |
| WV | 2 |
| NC | 1 |
Ownership
unknown of giovanni s franchise systems.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.