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ering systems that we designate. You are required to purchase and operate at least one configured and licensed point of sale hardware terminal. Currently we recommend that you use ADP for payroll serv
From the filings
+38.83% units YoYHQ-led decisions
Playa Bowls Franchisor
Quick service restaurantPlaya Bowls, the New Jersey-based quick-service franchisor, designates the computer, POS, business-management and ordering systems its franchisees must run — including its online-ordering vendor, Tap Mago Inc. Playa Bowls counts 290 locations, with franchised-outlet growth of 38.83% year over year.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
290
261 franchised
Unit growth YoY
+38.83%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
6%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$35K
per unit
Investment range
$256K–$1.04M
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.
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.
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
30 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 2 explicit no's; 2 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee use an accounting or bookkeeping system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee is responsible for initial license fees, training fees and continuing monthly license fees required for use of the Business Management System as specified by Franchisor in Franchisor’s Reasonable Business Judgment or by the suppliers designated by Franchisor and approved by Franchisor in Franchisor’s…
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesFranchise agreement
At all times, Franchisee shall provide and permit Franchisor to maintain direct and independent access to the Business Management System and Franchisee shall electronically transfer and transmit to Franchisor all Business Management System Data;
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
within 30 days of the end of each calendar month Franchisee shall submit to Franchisor monthly financial statements and other reports related to the operations of the Franchised business
How the franchisor buys
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor, in Franchisor’s Reasonable Business Judgment, may from time to time modify the list of approved brands, suppliers and distributors of System Supplies and approved equipment, supplies and services to be utilized by the Franchised Business
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
3848541.89Item 8
During the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, we earned $3,848,541.89 in rebates from franchisee purchases.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Our affiliate, Rabby LLC, has a revenue share arrangement with our designated supplier, Yummy Acai LLC, where Rabby LLC receives rebates on tub and case sales of acai and coconut products.
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?
70Item 8
approximately 70% of your total purchases in the continuing operations of your Shop
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
We may charge you a fee equal to the costs and expenses that we incur in reviewing and evaluating an alternate supplier, product, and/or service requested by you.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you want to purchase or lease a source restricted item from a supplier that has not been previously approved or designated by us in writing, you must send us a written request for approval and submit additional information, samples, and testing data that we may request.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
In the event of the termination of this Agreement, for any reason, that the accounts related to all telephone numbers associated with the Franchised Business and all rights in and to the telephone numbers associated with the Franchised Business, shall, at Franchisor’s election, be transferred to Franchisor.
Franchise management
Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor, in Franchisor’s Reasonable Business Judgement, shall exclusively select the Reputation Management Services to be used by Franchisee and to determine and select the websites, social media sites, reporting services, surveys, and service platforms to be included in any evaluation and/or determination of…
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor has the right at any and all times during business hours, throughout the terms of this Agreement and without prior notice to Franchisee to inspect, evaluate, and secret shop Franchisee’s Shop.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
At all times, we reserve the right to supplement, modify and update the Operations Manual.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
Although you are responsible for selecting a site for your Shop Location you must obtain our approval of your Shop Location.
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 use any websites, web-based media or digital media unless expressly approved by us in writing.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 7
You must spend a minimum of $10,000 to market the grand-opening of your Shop.
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
On an on-going and monthly basis, you must spend not less than 1% of your monthly Gross Sales on the local marketing of your Shop.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
participate in, offer, redeem, and honor, without the offset to any fees due to Franchisor, all Gift Card and customer loyalty programs designated by Franchisor
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
If we elect to form a local or regional cooperative or if a cooperative already exists as to the area of your Shop, you will be required to participate in the cooperative in accordance with the provisions of our Operations Manual which we may supplement and modify from time to time.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase the System Supplies, as designated by us, from us, our affiliates, and/or our designated suppliers.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You may only use those products, supplies, equipment, technology systems, and services that we authorize and designate in writing.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
Credit Card Processing – You must use our designated supplier and vendor for credit card processing which may be integrated with the point of sale system that we designate.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
Payment is subject to our specification and instruction, including, our election to have all fees automatically drafted from your business bank account or automatically debited or charged to your business bank account.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
issue, sell, redeem, honor, and accept, without the offset to any fees due to Franchisor, all Gift Cards designated by Franchisor and participate in, offer, redeem, and honor, without the offset to any fees due to Franchisor, all Gift Card and customer loyalty programs designated by Franchisor
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
At all times, your Shop must be managed and supervised on-site by either a Managing Owner or Operating Manager.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
For the protection of the System, you must ensure that all employees wear and maintain the proper uniforms with our approved System branded apparel and uniforms including, but not limited to, the apparel and uniforms comprising System Supplies.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
Currently you are required to purchase, license, and utilize the point of sale system that we designate with one configured hardware terminal.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
You are required to provide us with independent access to all of the information and data that is transacted, collected, and stored by the Franchised Business on the Business Management Systems, your computer systems, and otherwise.
Sales and CRM
Must the franchisee use a CRM system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must complete training, purchase, and license the Business Management Systems no later than 30 days prior to the earlier of the Actual Business Commencement Date or the Scheduled Business Commencement Date.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor provides instructors and training materials for those programs and seminars, but Franchisor 20 Playa Bowls FDD April 29, 2025 reserves the right to assess Franchisee reasonable charges for such training.
The filing answers no to 2 questions
- Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?Item 8
- Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?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.
HQ leadership: CEO/President + VP Ops/Franchise + a first dedicated IT/systems owner.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- 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%.
- 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 Playa Bowls
Playa Bowls operates 290 quick-service locations, 261 franchised and 29 company-owned. Franchised-outlet count grew 38.83% year over year. The FDD makes a financial performance representation.
Who controls software purchasing
John Cappasola is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chair; Julie Klinger is Chief Operations Officer; Anthony Reaman is Chief Financial Officer; Abby Taylor is Chief Brand Officer; Jayson Tipp is Chief Development Officer. Playa Bowls itself designates the computer, POS, business-management and ordering systems franchisees must use, which keeps the purchasing decision at HQ.
Tech named in the FDD, and what is actually required
Franchisees "must purchase, license, and use the computer, point of sale, business management, and ordering systems" Playa Bowls designates, and must purchase and operate at least one configured and licensed POS hardware terminal. Franchisees must use Playa Bowls' designated supplier for credit-card processing, which may be integrated with the designated POS system, and its designated supplier for online ordering, customer rewards and gift-card systems; the designated online-ordering vendor is currently Tap Mago Inc. ADP is named in the filing.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Playa Bowls designates suppliers only: "source restricted goods and services" must meet Playa Bowls' specifications and be purchased from an approved or designated supplier, which may include Playa Bowls or its affiliates, and Playa Bowls estimates such purchases at roughly 57% to 67% of setup costs and about 70% of ongoing costs. Franchisees must buy System Supplies from Playa Bowls, its affiliates or designated suppliers, and branded items and marketing materials from Playa Bowls directly or its designated suppliers. The initial term is 10 years, with one additional 10-year renewal term available to franchisees who give 180 days' notice, stay in compliance, sign a release, remodel as required and pay a renewal fee. The operator base is 103 mapped operators (7 multi-unit) across roughly 118 located units, concentrated in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts and Florida.
How to read the Playa Bowls FDD
The embedded PDF viewer below is Playa Bowls' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. Talk to FranCloud for a ranked list of franchise systems that fit your product.
Questions vendors ask
Playa Bowls Franchisor, answered from the filing
John Cappasola is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chair; Julie Klinger is Chief Operations Officer. Playa Bowls itself designates the computer, POS, business-management and ordering systems franchisees must use, keeping the purchasing decision at HQ.
Playa Bowls mandates the computer, POS, business-management and ordering systems it designates, plus its designated credit-card-processing vendor and its designated online-ordering vendor, currently Tap Mago Inc. ADP is named in the filing.
Playa Bowls operates 290 quick-service locations — 261 franchised, 29 company-owned — with franchised-outlet count up 38.83% year over year.
Playa Bowls designates suppliers only: source-restricted goods and services must meet Playa Bowls' specifications and come from an approved or designated supplier, which may include Playa Bowls itself. Franchisees may propose an alternative supplier for approval.
The initial term is 10 years, with one additional 10-year renewal term for franchisees who give 180 days' notice, stay in compliance and pay a renewal fee — a natural checkpoint to revisit the vendor stack.
The embedded PDF viewer below holds Playa Bowls' 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Playa Bowls Franchisor files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
103 operators run 118 mapped locations. 7 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit96
2–9 units7
Top states by locations
| NJ | 51 |
|---|---|
| NY | 21 |
| MD | 13 |
| MA | 8 |
| FL | 6 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Playa Bowls Franchisor
unknown of pb group holdings.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated September 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.