QuickBooks OnlineIntuit Inc.
Mandatoryd software: Hardware 1 desktop or laptop computer with internet access, a printer/ copier/ scanner, POS required hardware Software Specified POS and Credit Card Processing System, Quickbooks Online Th
HQ-led decisions
Mercato Cucina
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Mercato Cucina is controlled at the HQ level by a small executive team led by CEO David Buico and CFO Debbie Stone. The brand currently mandates QuickBooks Online by Intuit and a specified POS and credit card processing system, with only 1 company-owned unit in operation. The addressable market is extremely limited today, but the 10-year initial term and renewal structure signal long-term vendor relationships if franchising expands.
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.
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 the corpus by segment and unit count, not a guess.
The franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.
OwnerCEOPresidentPrincipal
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Live signals
Total units
1
0 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2024
Royalty
5.5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
1%
national + local
Initial fee
$40K
per unit
Investment range
$199K–$346K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisor controlled
from the filing
The vendor opportunity at Mercato Cucina
Mercato Cucina is a quick-service restaurant concept headquartered in New York. According to its 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document, the system consists of exactly 1 unit—all company-owned. No franchised locations are reported, and year-over-year unit growth is not disclosed. For software vendors, this is a single-account opportunity with no franchisee-level sales motion. The total addressable unit count is 1.
The brand charges a 5.5% royalty on gross sales and offers a 10-year initial franchise term. Average unit volume is not disclosed in the most recent FDD. If Mercato Cucina begins franchising, each new operator would represent a net-new software seat under whatever tech stack the franchisor mandates at that time.
Who controls software purchasing
All purchasing authority sits at the headquarters level. The 2024 FDD lists two executives in Item 1: David Buico, CEO, and Debbie Stone, CFO. With no franchisee base, there is no multi-unit operator influence or franchisee advisory council to navigate. A vendor pitch would need to engage Buico or Stone directly. The CFO is the natural entry point for financial and operational software, while the CEO likely owns strategic technology decisions given the small team size.
Mandated and current tech stack
Mercato Cucina’s FDD mandates two technology categories. First, QuickBooks Online by Intuit Inc. is required for accounting. Second, the franchisor mandates a specified POS and credit card processing system—though the vendor name is not extracted in our corpus. Vendors selling ERP, payroll, inventory, or HR tools should note the QuickBooks Online dependency and position integrations accordingly. Any POS-adjacent software must align with the unspecified but mandated POS system.
No other mandated or recommended technology systems appear in the available Item 11 data. The tech stack is lean, reflecting the single-unit, pre-franchise stage of the brand.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 procurement signals were not extracted for Mercato Cucina. Without that data, vendors cannot determine whether the franchisor uses a designated supplier model, an approved supplier list, or an open procurement process. This is a critical gap to investigate before committing sales resources.
On renewals, Item 17 outlines a 10-year renewal term. Franchisees must meet conditions including full compliance with the agreement, capital expenditures for system uniformity, satisfaction of all monetary obligations, and execution of a general release. The renewal fee amount is not specified in the extract. Because no franchised units exist, no renewal-driven software evaluation cycles are imminent. Any future franchising activity would create contract windows tied to new store openings rather than renewals.
How to read the Mercato Cucina FDD
The full 2024 Mercato Cucina Franchise Disclosure Document is available below. It contains the franchisor’s audited financials, Item 7 investment table, Item 11 technology obligations, and Item 17 renewal conditions. Reviewing the complete FDD is essential to confirm the unspecified POS vendor, understand procurement rules, and assess the franchisor’s growth plans before allocating sales capacity to this account.
For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
Mercato Cucina, answered from the filing
CEO David Buico and CFO Debbie Stone are the named executives in the 2024 FDD. With no franchised operators, all purchasing decisions are centralized at HQ.
The FDD mandates a specified POS and credit card processing system, plus QuickBooks Online by Intuit Inc. The specific POS vendor is not named in our extract.
The 2024 FDD discloses 1 total unit, all company-owned. No franchised units are reported, making this a single-location quick-service restaurant based in New York.
Item 8 procurement signals were not extracted in our corpus. The franchisor’s procurement model—designated supplier, approved supplier, or open—is not disclosed in the available data.
With only 1 company-owned unit and no franchised locations, no renewal-driven contract windows exist. Any software evaluation would be triggered by HQ-led operational changes or expansion plans.
The 2024 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can review it using the embedded PDF viewer below this section.
Source
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FDD alert
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Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.