FacebookMeta
, or other communications that can be accessed through electronic means, including, for example, the Internet, World Wide Web, webpages, microsites, social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, L
From the filings
Operator-led decisions
Nathan's Famous
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Nathan's Famous is highly decentralized. With 71 franchised and 4 company-owned locations, and 114 mapped operators all running a single unit, there is no multi-unit operator to consolidate buying decisions. The 2025 FDD discloses no mandated technology systems, meaning each franchisee likely controls their own tech stack.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
75
71 franchised
Unit growth YoY
0%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
5.5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2.5%
national + local
Initial fee
$30K
per unit
Investment range
$720K–$3.35M
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 (FY2025)
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.
LinkedInLinkedIn
ations that can be accessed through electronic means, including, for example, the Internet, World Wide Web, webpages, microsites, social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, You Tube,
PinterestPinterest
gh electronic means, including, for example, the Internet, World Wide Web, webpages, microsites, social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, You Tube, Google Plus, Pinterest, etc.), bl
TwitterX
communications that can be accessed through electronic means, including, for example, the Internet, World Wide Web, webpages, microsites, social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yo
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
24 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 5 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
We reserve the right to have independent access to your computer for the purpose of downloading sales and other data.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
In addition, no later than the twentieth (20th) day after each month (or, if we elect, other periodic time period) during the term of this Agreement after the opening of the Franchised Business, you will submit to us, in a format acceptable to us (or, at our election, in a form that we have specified): (a) a fiscal…
How the franchisor buys
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
You recognize and agree that we may periodically change or modify the System and you agree to accept and use for the purpose of this Agreement any such change in the System (which may include, among other things, new or modified trade names, service marks, trademarks or copyrighted materials, new products, new…
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
646368Item 8
During NFSI's fiscal year ended March 30, 2025, NFSI received revenue (in the form of rebates) from franchisees' and licensees' purchases from approved suppliers in the amount of $646,368, or approximately 0.5% of NFSI's total revenues of $135,971,505.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Under an agreement with certain soft drink suppliers, food suppliers, and other operational service suppliers, those suppliers may pay us rebates based upon purchases by franchised and company-owned Restaurants.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesFranchise agreement
You (or the supplier) may be required to pay a charge, not to exceed the reasonable cost of the inspection, as well as the actual cost of the test.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
We must notify you in writing of our approval or disapproval of the proposed supplier.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
In addition, you will cease use of all telephone numbers and any domain names, websites, e-mail addresses, and any other print and online identifiers, whether or not authorized by us, that you have while operating the Franchised Business, and shall promptly execute such documents or take such steps necessary to…
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to comply with the then-current Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards as those standards may be revised and modified by the PCI Security Standards Council, LLC (see www.pcisecuritystandards.org), or any successor organization or standards that we may reasonably specify.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
We may conduct, as we deem advisable, periodic inspections of the Restaurant, and may provide evaluations of the products sold and services rendered by the Franchised Business.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 14
We may revise the contents of the Manual, and you must comply with each new or changed standard.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
You must provide us with a copy of the lease or purchase agreement proposed for the Approved Location, and you must receive our written approval, before you enter into such lease or purchase agreement.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesItem 11
In connection with any Online Site, the Franchise Agreement provides that you may not establish an Online Site, nor may you offer, promote, or sell any products or services, or make any use of the Proprietary Marks, through the Internet without our prior written approval.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
You shall conduct, at your expense, such grand opening promotional and advertising activities as we may require which expense shall be credited against your obligation to pay a Marketing Development Fund Contribution, as set forth in Section 13 below.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to offer for sale, and to honor for purchases by customers, all gift cards and other incentive or convenience programs that we may periodically institute (including loyalty programs that we or a third party vendor operate, as well as mobile payment applications); and you agree to do all of those things in…
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
If a Regional Fund has been established in the geographic area in which your Restaurant is located when you begin operation, you must immediately become a member.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to maintain, at all times, credit-card relationships with the credit- and debit- card issuers or sponsors, check or credit verification services, financial-center services, merchant service providers, and electronic-fund-transfer systems (together, “Payment Vendors”) that we may periodically designate as…
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to establish an arrangement for electronic funds transfer to us, or electronic deposit to us of any payments required under Sections 4 or 13 of this Agreement.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to offer for sale, and to honor for purchases by customers, all gift cards and other incentive or convenience programs that we may periodically institute
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 11
You must maintain the requisite number of Specially Trained Management Employees as employees of the Restaurant during the term of the Franchise Agreement.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Your employees must comply with such dress code or standards as we may require, which may include use of branded (or other “uniform”) apparel, and otherwise identify themselves with the Proprietary Marks at all times in the manner we specify (whether in the Manual or otherwise in writing) while on a job for the…
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
At this time, we require our franchisees to buy an approved computer hardware and software point of sale (POS) system.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We reserve the right to have independent access to your computer for the purpose of downloading sales and other data.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee and its Specially Trained Management Employees may also be required to attend such refresher courses, seminars, and other training programs as Franchisor may reasonably require periodically.
The filing answers no to 5 questions
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?Franchise agreement
- Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Item 11
- Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?Item 8
- Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?Franchise agreement
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
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- 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 Nathan's Famous
Nathan's Famous operates a compact system of 75 total units, with 71 franchised and 4 company-owned locations. The brand is part of Nathan's Famous Operating Corp. and is classified as a quick-service restaurant. For software vendors, the addressable market is small but geographically concentrated: 66 units in New York, 24 in Florida, 10 in Pennsylvania, 5 in South Carolina, and 2 in Virginia. The operator footprint reveals a critical structural fact—every one of the 114 mapped operators runs a single unit. There are zero multi-unit operators. This means you are selling to 114 individual business owners, not a consolidated buying group.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2025 FDD does not list any HQ executives in Item 1, and no technology mandates appear elsewhere in the document. In a system with no multi-unit operators and no mandated tech stack, the default assumption is that purchasing authority is fully decentralized. Each franchisee decides independently which POS, payroll, scheduling, or inventory tools to use. The four company-owned locations may have some centralized oversight, but the FDD provides no detail on corporate IT leadership. Vendors should prepare for a high-touch, unit-by-unit sales motion rather than a top-down enterprise deal.
Mandated and current tech stack
The 2025 FDD is silent on technology. No point-of-sale system, online ordering platform, back-office software, or hardware vendor is mandated or even recommended. This absence of Item 11 disclosures is unusual and signals an open technology environment. Franchisees are not required to adopt any specific tools, which means incumbent vendors may have little lock-in, but also that there is no system-wide refresh cycle to target. If you can demonstrate clear ROI to a single-unit operator, the barrier to entry is low.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD contains no procurement signal, reinforcing the open-supplier model. The franchise agreement runs for an initial term of 10 years, with a 5-year renewal option. Renewal is not automatic; franchisees must provide notice, satisfy monetary obligations, comply with the agreement, execute a release, and sign a new franchise agreement that may contain materially different terms, including fee changes. These renewal events, occurring on staggered schedules across the system, represent natural moments when operators may reassess their technology vendors. The royalty rate is 5.5% of gross sales, though average unit volumes are not disclosed in the FDD.
How to read the Nathan's Famous FDD
The Franchise Disclosure Document is the primary legal filing that governs the franchisor-franchisee relationship. Item 1 discloses the corporate structure—here, Nathan's Famous Operating Corp. Item 8 covers purchasing obligations, which in this case are absent from the extract. Item 11 details mandated technology, also absent. Item 17 governs renewal and termination, revealing the 5-year renewal term and the requirement to sign a potentially different agreement. The full 2025 FDD is embedded below for your own review. For a ranked target list of franchise systems based on tech-mandate strength, decision-maker concentration, and unit growth, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
Nathan's Famous, answered from the filing
HQ executive names are not disclosed in the 2025 FDD. Given the lack of tech mandates and a 100% single-unit operator base, purchasing authority likely rests with individual franchisees, not a centralized buying center.
The 2025 FDD does not list any mandated or recommended point-of-sale or operational technology systems. Franchisees appear free to choose their own vendors.
There are 75 total units: 71 franchised and 4 company-owned. The operator footprint is entirely single-unit, with 114 mapped operators across 114 located units.
The 2025 FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement signal. Without a designated or approved supplier list, the model appears to be open, allowing franchisees to source independently.
Initial franchise terms are 10 years, with 5-year renewals. Renewal conditions include executing a new agreement that may have materially different terms, creating potential switching points when franchisees re-evaluate their tech stacks.
The 2025 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can review the full document in the embedded PDF viewer below to analyze the legal disclosures directly.
Source
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FDD alert
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Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
114 operators run 114 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit114
Top states by locations
| NY | 66 |
|---|---|
| FL | 24 |
| PA | 10 |
| SC | 5 |
| VA | 2 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Nathan's Famous
single_brand_holdco of Nathan's Famous.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated July 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.