+28.261% units YoYHQ-led decisions

Hooters

Quick service restaurant

Software purchasing at Hooters is controlled at the franchisor level, with the brand mandating specific technology systems across its 194-unit system. The current tech stack includes PAR Brink POS, OLO, Fiserv, and Data Central Systems. The addressable market for vendors is 194 US locations, including both franchised and company-owned units, with a recent 28% year-over-year growth signaling active investment.

Live signals

Total units
194
118 franchised
Unit growth YoY
+28.261%
vs prior filing
AUV
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
6%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$50K
per unit
Investment range
$1.25M–$3.02M
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.

8%of gross sales (FY2026)

Ongoing fees: 8% of gross sales (FY2026)Royalty 6%, Ad fund 2%. Total 8% of gross sales. Drawn against a 15% reference scale.

15% reference

Royalty 6%Ad fund 2%

Mandated & recommended tech

The systems vendors compete with

4 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.

Baseline
Mandatory
POSItem 11

devices in the Hooters Restaurant. You must maintain and share with us one or more permanent internet email accounts in the manner we designate. The estimated cost to acquire the baseline technology i

Olo
Mandatory
Industry softwareItem 8

lications. In addition, you must purchase technology support from us or one of our affiliate. We will require you to subscribe to our online ordering system, currently provided by OLO and managed by u

PAR
Mandatory
POSItem 11

failover and failback. - High speed internet with a minimum of 100.0M x 10.0M broadband speeds. - Fortinet WiFi and security, or another WiFi system we designate. - PAR Pay’s Payment Gateway for manag

PAR Brink
Mandatory
POSItem 11

or business-critical hardware components are estimated to be between $3,500 and $4,000. You will also have to pay monthly software subscription costs between $600 and $800 for the PAR Brink POS and Da

DoorDash
DeliveryItem 6

uests give and that are charged to the guests’ credit or debit cards. Service fees and commissions to the Third-Party Delivery Providers are not excluded from Gross Sales (such as DoorDash or Uber Eat

Facebook
MarketingItem 11

th in the Manuals or otherwise in writing by us. Digital Marketing We or our affiliates, in our sole discretion, may establish and operate websites, social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter, I

Fiserv
PaymentsItem 11

for management and routing of payment card transactions. - The user of an accredited Payment Processor with an existing integration to the PAR Pay gateway. Our current standard is Fiserv. - PAR Techno

Instagram
MarketingItem 11

r otherwise in writing by us. Digital Marketing We or our affiliates, in our sole discretion, may establish and operate websites, social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest

PAR Ops
InventoryItem 11

of payment card transactions. - The user of an accredited Payment Processor with an existing integration to the PAR Pay gateway. Our current standard is Fiserv. - PAR Technology’s PAR Ops Concierge Se

PAR Technology
POSItem 11

tware programs during the term of the Franchise Agreement as we require. A general description of the components of the Technology System is: - POS system. The current standard is PAR Technology’s PAR

Pinterest
MarketingItem 11

in writing by us. Digital Marketing We or our affiliates, in our sole discretion, may establish and operate websites, social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat,

Punchh
LoyaltyItem 11

ology’s PAR Brink POS, with at least 5 terminals per restaurant. - PAR Technology’s PAR Ops for Inventory Management, Labor Management, and Reporting. - OlO for online ordering. - Punchh® Loyalty and

Snapchat
MarketingItem 11

by us. Digital Marketing We or our affiliates, in our sole discretion, may establish and operate websites, social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, etc

TikTok
MarketingItem 11

gital Marketing We or our affiliates, in our sole discretion, may establish and operate websites, social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, etc.), appli

Twitter
MarketingItem 11

Manuals or otherwise in writing by us. Digital Marketing We or our affiliates, in our sole discretion, may establish and operate websites, social media accounts (such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

Uber Eats
DeliveryItem 6

nd that are charged to the guests’ credit or debit cards. Service fees and commissions to the Third-Party Delivery Providers are not excluded from Gross Sales (such as DoorDash or Uber Eats). 3. We re

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.

Sales LeaderRegional 100 499

HQ leadership: CEO/President + VP Ops/Franchise + a first dedicated IT/systems owner.

VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
  1. 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%.
  2. 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.
  3. 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 Hooters

Hooters is a quick-service restaurant chain headquartered in Georgia, with 194 total US locations as of its 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document. Of those, 118 are franchised and 76 are company-owned. The system grew 28% year-over-year, adding units rapidly relative to its segment. For software vendors, that growth creates a natural opening: new locations need POS, online ordering, payment processing, and operational tools. The brand mandates a specific, modern tech stack across all units, making it a concentrated sales target.

Who controls software purchasing

The franchisor controls technology decisions. Hooters lists eight mandated systems and vendors in its FDD, indicating that software selection and procurement are centralized at the corporate level. The document does not name the specific executives or committees responsible for IT purchasing, but the breadth of mandates points to a top-down approach. Vendors should route pitches to the Hooters headquarters in Georgia, targeting IT, operations, or digital leadership. Because franchisees cannot independently choose POS, online ordering, or payment processing, the addressable buyer is the franchisor.

Mandated and current tech stack

Hooters mandates the following technology in its 2026 FDD: Data Central Systems for back-office/management; Fiserv for payment processing; OLO for online ordering, including OLO Dispatch and OLO Rails; and the PAR suite — PAR Brink POS, PAR Ops, and PAR Pay’s Payment Gateway. This stack covers the core restaurant functions: point-of-sale, off-premise ordering, payments, and operational management. There is no evidence of an approved or recommended list beyond these mandates. For vendors selling complementary or replacement tools, the incumbent landscape is clearly defined.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

The FDD does not include Item 8 procurement language (designated vs. approved supplier), nor does it describe renewal rights or technology refresh cycles in Item 17. The initial franchise term is 10 years, but without renewal detail, contract windows remain opaque. A practical signal is the system’s recent expansion: 28% unit growth in a single year often correlates with increased technology evaluation and investment. Vendors should monitor the cadence of new store openings and any public announcements about digital transformation. Direct inquiry with Hooters HQ is advisable to uncover roadmap timing.

How to read the Hooters FDD

FranCloud’s embedded FDD viewer makes it easy to navigate the 2026 disclosure without hunting through state registries. Focus on Item 11 (franchisor’s obligations) for technology mandates; Item 8 for procurement model (though absent here); and Item 17 for renewal terms. The FDD also reveals the operator structure: 47 franchise operators all fall in the single-unit band, with no multi-unit operators recorded in this edition. Top states by location count are Texas (38), Virginia (8), and Wisconsin (1). This fragmented operator base reinforces the franchisor’s control over software decisions. For a ranked list of brands that match your ideal customer profile, talk to FranCloud.

Questions vendors ask

Hooters, answered from the filing

The franchisor centrally mandates technology systems, so purchasing decisions are made at HQ. The 2026 FDD does not name specific IT procurement executives.
The 2026 FDD mandates PAR Brink POS, PAR Ops, PAR Pay’s Payment Gateway, OLO, OLO Dispatch, OLO Rails, Fiserv, and Data Central Systems.
194 total US locations — 118 franchised, 76 company-owned — with a 28% unit growth rate year-over-year as of the 2026 FDD.
The FDD does not disclose a designated or approved supplier list. The procurement model is not specified; vendors should inquire directly with Hooters HQ.
With a 10-year initial franchise term and no disclosed renewal process, contract windows are unclear. The recent 28% unit growth may signal ongoing tech evaluation.
The 2026 FDD was filed with state franchise regulators. View it in the embedded PDF viewer below. The specific depository or registry is not named per disclosure practice.
Source

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Operator footprint

Who runs the locations

47 operators run 47 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.

Operators by units owned

Single-unit47

Top states by locations

TX38
VA8
WI1

Ownership

The portfolio behind Hooters

holding_vehicle of Hooters.

Sibling brands

Related Quick service restaurant brands

Primary franchise filings · updated August 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.