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 any data you collect electronically.
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Pudgie's
Quick service restaurantPudgie's is a small, New York-based quick-service system of 7 restaurants, run by co-founders David J. Cleary and Robert A. Cleary as Managing Members. Item 11 of the 2025 FDD requires franchisees to buy designated computer hardware and software, giving HQ leverage over any technology sale into this system.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
7
5 franchised
Unit growth YoY
0%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
7%
of gross sales
Ad fund
1%
national + local
Initial fee
$30K
per unit
Investment range
$467K–$989K
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
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
24 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 1 explicit no; 9 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesItem 6
You must maintain for at least 5 fiscal years from their preparation complete financial records for the operation of the Restaurant in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and must provide us, at our request, with (i) a weekly Gross Sales Report;
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
We are presently an approved supplier of certain Approved Products and Services, including, without limitation, merchandise, novelties, signs, advertising materials and bottled water.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor reserves the right to change the amount, timing, and manner of payment of the Software Fee at any time.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
89027Item 8
In our fiscal year that ended December 31, 2024, we derived $89,027 or 16% of our total revenue of $561,351, from required franchisee purchases.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We have negotiated a purchasing arrangement with some our designated suppliers of Approved Products and Services, which pays us a rebate of between two percent (2%) and nine percent (9%) of the Approved Products and Services purchased by our franchisees.
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
approximately 50% to 75% of your annual costs to operate your Restaurant after opening
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
If we incur any costs in connection with testing a particular product or evaluating an unapproved supplier at your request, you must reimburse our reasonable testing costs, regardless of whether we subsequently approve the item or supplier.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
In the event you wish to purchase any unapproved item, including inventory, and/or acquire approved items from an unapproved supplier, you must provide us the name, address and telephone number of the proposed supplier, a description of the item you wish to purchase, and purchase price of the item, if known.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Upon the expiration, transfer or termination of this Agreement for any reason, Franchisee must terminate Franchisee’s use of such telephone number and listing, as well as any domain name granted under this Agreement, or any other online page or listing containing any of the Proprietary Marks, and shall assign same to…
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor and Franchisor’s designees have the right to inspect and/or audit Franchisee’s business records at any time during normal business hours, to determine whether Franchisee is current with suppliers and are otherwise operating in compliance with the terms of this Agreement and the Operations Manual.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 8
We have the right, under the Franchise Agreement, to change the standards and specifications applicable to operation of the franchise, including standards and specifications for products, signs, interior designs and furnishings, supplies, fixtures, computer hardware and software, inventory and equipment by written…
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
You will operate the Restaurant at the approved location agreed upon by you and us.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
prior to posting. 12.3.3 Except as approved in advance in writing by Franchisor, Franchisee must not establish or maintain a separate website, splash page, profile or other presence on the Internet, or otherwise advertise on the Internet or any other public computer network in connection with the Franchised Business…
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
you must spend a minimum of 3% of your Gross Sales on local advertising and promotion
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesItem 11
If a Cooperative is established applicable to the Restaurant, you must participate in and contribute to such Cooperative.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all inventory, equipment, fixtures, furnishings, product display units, signs, uniforms, supplies, and materials from us or designated or approved suppliers.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all inventory, equipment, fixtures, furnishings, product display units, signs, uniforms, supplies, and materials from us or designated or approved suppliers.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
Royalty and Advertising Fees are presently collected each Wednesday, following receipt of each of your Gross Sales Reports, by an electronic funds transfer program (the “EFT Program”).
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
Your Restaurant must, at all times, be staffed with at least one individual who has successfully completed our initial training program.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesItem 8
You must purchase all inventory, equipment, fixtures, furnishings, product display units, signs, uniforms, supplies, and materials from us or designated or approved suppliers.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
and use any and all computer software programs (“Software”) which Franchisor has developed or may develop and/or designate for use for the System, and must purchase such computer hardware as may be necessary for the efficient operation of the Software, including without limitation, a point of sale system, and a…
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 any data you collect electronically.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
We may offer additional training programs and/or refresher courses to you, your manager, and/or your employees.
The filing answers no to 1 question
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?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 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 Pudgie's Pudgie's is a 7-unit quick-service restaurant system based in New York, with 5 franchised locations and 2 company-owned. Growth has been flat year over year among franchised outlets, and the FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation.
Who controls software purchasing Co-Founders and Managing Members David J. Cleary and Robert A. Cleary lead Pudgie's from HQ. Item 20 places the 5 franchised restaurants in New York (4) and Pennsylvania (1), with one company-owned restaurant in each state, so decisions on required systems flow from the top rather than from a large operator base.
Tech named in the FDD, and what is actually required Item 11 requires franchisees to purchase the computer hardware and software Pudgie's designates for restaurant operations, and to install hardware and software that gives the company full and direct electronic access to franchisee data, software systems, and related information. Franchisees must use Pudgie's approved POS system, paying a one-time licensing fee of roughly $1,800 per POS terminal and a monthly usage fee, currently about $350, directly to the approved supplier; Pudgie's may also require a separate maintenance agreement for the POS system and participation in any system-wide computer network, intranet or extranet it implements. The FDD also describes a Proprietary Software Program that franchisees may be required to adopt once Pudgie's decides to implement it, at rates the company sets.
Procurement, renewals, and timing Item 8 designates an approved-supplier list: franchisees must buy inventory, equipment, fixtures, furnishings, signage, and supplies from Pudgie's or its approved sources, and Pudgie's is itself an approved supplier for merchandise, novelties, signs, advertising materials, and bottled water. Franchisees may propose an alternate supplier for approval. The initial franchise term runs 10 years, with two optional 5-year renewals that require executing Pudgie's then-current franchise agreement — which may carry a different royalty, fee structure, or sales quota — making each 5-year renewal point a natural checkpoint for revisiting required systems.
How to read the Pudgie's FDD The embedded PDF below is Pudgie's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. Read Item 2 for the leadership team, Item 8 for supplier rules, Item 11 for the technology requirements, and Item 17 for renewal terms. Vendors evaluating this system should talk to FranCloud for a ranked target list of similar-fit franchise brands.
Questions vendors ask
Pudgie's, answered from the filing
Co-Founders and Managing Members David J. Cleary and Robert A. Cleary lead Pudgie's from HQ, and set the standards for the computer hardware and software franchisees must run.
Item 11 sets Pudgie's technology requirements: franchisees must purchase the computer hardware and software the company designates, use its approved POS system — about $1,800 per terminal in licensing plus roughly $350 a month paid to the approved supplier — and may be required to adopt a Proprietary Software Program later.
Pudgie's operates 7 quick-service restaurants — 5 franchised and 2 company-owned — a small, New York-based system.
Item 8 sets an approved-supplier list: franchisees buy inventory, equipment, fixtures, signage, and supplies from Pudgie's or its designated sources, and Pudgie's itself supplies merchandise, novelties, signs, advertising materials, and bottled water. Franchisees may propose an alternate supplier for approval.
With a 10-year initial term and two 5-year renewal options requiring a then-current franchise agreement — which may carry different royalty and fee terms — each 5-year renewal point is the clearest checkpoint for revisiting required systems.
The embedded PDF below is Pudgie's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document. Read Item 2 for leadership, Item 8 for supplier rules, Item 11 for technology, and Item 17 for renewal terms.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Pudgie's files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
3 operators run 5 mapped locations. 2 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
2–9 units2
Single-unit1
Top states by locations
| NY | 4 |
|---|---|
| PA | 1 |
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated September 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.