Shift4Shift4
Mandatoryle system (“POS System”) we specify, and have the latest versions of hardware, software and computer platforms to operate the POS System. The current POS System requirement is the Shift4 POS, which in
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Mystic Lobster Franchise
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Mystic Lobster Franchise is controlled at the headquarters level, with Co-CEOs Philip Tretola and Renee Tretola and Director of Operations & Development Evan Stein named in the 2024 FDD. The system currently mandates Shift4 as its point-of-sale platform across all 11 franchised locations. This small but growing quick-service restaurant concept represents a concentrated addressable market for vendors targeting franchise systems.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
11
11 franchised
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2024
Royalty
5.75%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$30K
per unit
Investment range
$102K–$140K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisor controlled
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.
7.75%of gross sales (FY2024)
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.
FacebookMeta
ible, you may do cooperative advertising with other Mystic Lobster Roll Co. franchisees in your area, with our prior written approval. You may not maintain any business profile on Facebook, Twitter, L
InstagramMeta
l establish on your behalf, you are not permitted to promote your Franchised Business or use any of the Marks in any manner on any social or networking websites, such as Facebook, Instagram, FourSquar
LinkedInLinkedIn
operative advertising with other Mystic Lobster Roll Co. franchisees in your area, with our prior written approval. You may not maintain any business profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or
SnapchatSnapchat
rmitted to promote your Franchised Business or use any of the Marks in any manner on any social or networking websites, such as Facebook, Instagram, FourSquare, LinkedIn, Twitter, Snapchat, personal b
TwitterX
may do cooperative advertising with other Mystic Lobster Roll Co. franchisees in your area, with our prior written approval. You may not maintain any business profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Y
YouTubeGoogle
advertising with other Mystic Lobster Roll Co. franchisees in your area, with our prior written approval. You may not maintain any business profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or any other
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
22 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 7 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
The Shift4 POS software allows us to independently and remotely access all of your sales data, including your Gross Revenue, through the Internet.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Within thirty (30) days after the close of each calendar quarter and within ninety (90) days after the close of each fiscal year, Franchisee will furnish Franchisor a full and complete written statement of income and expense and a profit and loss statement for the operation of the Franchised Business during said…
How the franchisor buys
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
We reserve the right to revoke approval of any item or supplier that does not continue to meet our then-current standards.
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?
50Item 8
We estimate that your purchase or lease of products, supplies and services from approved suppliers (or those which meet our specifications) will represent approximately 75%-90% of your costs to establish your Franchised Business and approximately 50%-75% of your costs for ongoing operation.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
If you request that we approve a proposed item or supplier, we may charge for our actual costs of product testing and evaluation.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you would like us to consider another item or supplier, you must make such request in writing to us and have the supplier give us samples of its product or service and such other information that we may require.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee, at the option of Franchisor, shall assign to Franchisor all rights to the telephone numbers of the Franchised Business and any related public directory listing or other business listings and execute all forms and documents required by Franchisor and any telephone company at any time, to transfer such…
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
conduct inspections of your Franchised Business, at the frequency and duration that we deem advisable.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 17
Modification of the agreement Sections 9.4, 14.6, No oral modifications generally, but we may 19.1.4 and 22.4 change the Operations Manual and System standards at any time.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
No site may be used for the location of the Franchised Business unless it is consented to in writing by Franchisor.
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 or use social media platforms for the promotion of your Franchised Business without our prior written consent.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 11
We require you to spend at least $1,500 in opening advertising and promotional activities, at the time and in the manner we specify, in the Territory.
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
Thereafter, you are required to spend at least 2% of monthly Gross Revenue on local advertising to promote your Franchised Business.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all equipment, fixtures, furnishings, ingredients, supplies and services, including computer systems and certain software, from our designated suppliers and contractors or in accordance with our specifications.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all equipment, fixtures, furnishings, ingredients, supplies and services, including computer systems and certain software, from our designated suppliers and contractors or in accordance with our specifications.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee shall, together with the submission of the Gross Revenue Report, pay Franchisor the Royalty Fee, the Brand Fund Contribution, as defined and more particularly described in Article 13, then due.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
Your Mystic Lobster Roll Co. outlet must be directly supervised by a general manager.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase your employees’ and manager’s uniforms, food strainer, paper products and take-out products, and branded merchandise from designated suppliers.
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 the point-of-sale system (“POS System”) we specify, and have the latest versions of hardware, software and computer platforms to operate the POS System.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
The Shift4 POS software allows us to independently and remotely access all of your sales data, including your Gross Revenue, through the Internet.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 6
We reserve the right to impose a reasonable fee for all additional training programs, including the national business meeting or annual convention.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesItem 11
If we require it, you must attend mandatory training programs that we offer for up to 3 days each year, and an annual conference or national business meeting for up to 3 days each year, at a location we designate.
The filing answers no to 7 questions
- Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?Item 11
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 11
- Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?Item 8
- Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?Item 6
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?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 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 Mystic Lobster Franchise
Mystic Lobster Franchise is a quick-service restaurant concept headquartered in New Jersey with 11 franchised units as of its 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document. The company-owned unit count is not disclosed. The system pays a 5.75% royalty on gross sales, and the initial franchise term runs 10 years. Average unit volume is not reported in the FDD. For software vendors, the addressable market is small but concentrated: 11 locations under a single franchisor with a clear HQ-driven decision-making structure.
Year-over-year unit growth is not disclosed in the filing, and no operator footprint is mapped in our corpus. The brand appears independently owned, with no parent company on file. This means the Tretola-led leadership team likely holds direct authority over technology mandates and procurement policy without a larger corporate layer.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2024 FDD Item 1 names five executives: Co-Chief Executive Officers Philip Tretola and Renee Tretola, Director of Operations & Development Evan Stein, and National Training Managers Rachael Anderson-Beltran and Zachary Anderson. In a system of this size, the Co-CEOs and the Director of Operations & Development are the most probable decision-makers for software evaluation and purchasing. Vendors should expect a lean, founder-led buying process rather than a formal IT or procurement department.
Mandated and current tech stack
Shift4 is the only technology vendor mandated in the 2024 FDD, serving as the point-of-sale system across all franchised locations. No other operational, accounting, payroll, inventory, or scheduling platforms are named as mandated or recommended in the filing. This creates a greenfield opportunity for vendors in adjacent categories, provided they can demonstrate integration with Shift4 and value for a small, franchised network.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD contains no extract, so the procurement model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier, or open—is not publicly disclosed. Vendors should inquire directly about supplier qualification requirements during initial outreach.
Renewal terms are outlined in Item 17. Franchisees in good standing may sign a successor agreement for up to two additional terms of five years each, unless the franchisor has determined, in its sole discretion, to withdraw from the geographical area. The initial 10-year term and the potential for two 5-year renewals mean franchisee relationships can span up to 20 years, creating long windows for technology adoption and switching.
How to read the Mystic Lobster Franchise FDD
The 2024 FDD is embedded below. It was filed with state franchise regulators and contains the full legal disclosures for the system. Key sections for software vendors include Item 1 (executives), Item 11 (mandated systems), Item 8 (procurement), and Item 17 (renewal and termination). Because the system is small and privately held, the FDD is the primary source of structured intelligence on purchasing authority and tech mandates.
For a ranked target list of franchise systems matched to your software category, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
Mystic Lobster Franchise, answered from the filing
The 2024 FDD lists Co-CEOs Philip Tretola and Renee Tretola, plus Director of Operations & Development Evan Stein. These executives form the likely buying center for technology decisions.
Shift4 is the mandated point-of-sale system, as disclosed in the 2024 FDD. No other mandated or recommended technology vendors are named in the filing.
The system comprises 11 total units, all of which are franchised. Company-owned unit counts are not disclosed in the 2024 FDD.
The 2024 FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract. The specific designated-supplier or approved-supplier structure is not publicly disclosed.
Initial franchise terms run 10 years. Renewal is available for two additional 5-year terms, subject to good standing and the franchisor's discretion to remain in the geographic area.
The 2024 FDD was filed with state franchise regulators. You can view the embedded PDF viewer below to read the full document.
Source
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Mystic Lobster Franchise files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
15 operators run 16 mapped locations. 1 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit14
2–9 units1
Top states by locations
| NJ | 9 |
|---|---|
| FL | 4 |
| SC | 1 |
| TN | 1 |
| WI | 1 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Mystic Lobster Franchise
unknown of mystic lobster holdings.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.