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ryan held the following positions, each located in Atlanta, Georgia: Senior Vice President and Segment Chief Financial Officer, Americas, of EVO Payments (subsequently acquired by Global Payments) fro
From the filings
The James
LodgingThe James operates in the lodging segment, but the most recent Franchise Disclosure Document (2026) does not disclose total unit counts, franchised vs. company-owned splits, or an average unit volume. For software vendors, this means the addressable market size is unconfirmed from public filings, and no specific technology mandates or named systems are captured in the FDD. Decision-making authority and procurement processes are not detailed in the available extracts, so direct discovery is essential.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
—
system-wide
Unit growth YoY
—
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
—
of gross sales
Ad fund
—
national + local
Initial fee
—
per unit
Investment range
—
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
—
from the filing
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
19 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 15 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
You agree to establish and maintain at your own expense a bookkeeping, accounting, and recordkeeping system conforming to the requirements and formats we prescribe from time to time.
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesFranchise agreement
Moreover, we may, as often as we deem appropriate (including daily), access the Computer System and retrieve all information relating to the operation of your Hotel.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
(b) within 90 days after the end of each fiscal year, annual profit and loss and source and use of funds statements and a balance sheet for your Hotel as of the end of that calendar year, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles or, at our option, international accounting standards and…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesFranchise agreement
We or any of our affiliates may be a supplier, distributor, or otherwise party to these transactions, and may derive revenue or profit from such transactions.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
We and our affiliates reserve the right to periodically designate and approve standards and specifications of the FF&E and the products and services that we periodically authorize for use at your Hotel.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
We or any of our affiliates may be a supplier, distributor, or otherwise party to these transactions, and may derive revenue or profit from such transactions.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesFranchise agreement
In the event you desire to purchase equipment, products, services, supplies, or materials, or from vendors, other than those previously approved by us and our affiliates, you shall, prior to purchasing any such equipment, products, services, supplies, or materials, or from such vendor, give us a written request to…
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You must comply with all applicable laws, including laws related to data privacy and data security laws and regulations that may be applicable to your Hotel, including any requirements of the credit card processing industry, including PCI DSS and any
Franchise management
Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to present to your customers the evaluation forms that we periodically prescribe and to participate and request your customers to participate in any surveys performed by or for us.
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
We retain the right to enforce, at our discretion, the Brand Standards as we deem necessary or appropriate in furtherance of our interest in the Brand Hotels.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
We may change the Brand Manual periodically.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
You must establish any Online Presence that we may require, and only establish any other Online Presence that we authorize.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
You must participate in and honor all applicable loyalty, discount, or promotional programs, including paying associated fees, providing guest discounts, or offering rewards, and you must honor any room rate or discount quoted to a guest by us or our affiliates on your behalf at the time of reservation.
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
You hereby authorize us to debit your checking, savings, or other account automatically for the Royalty, Brand Promotion Fee, and other amounts due to us or our affiliates (the “EFT Authorization”).
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
(11) participation in gift card and loyalty card programs;
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesFranchise agreement
(6) the requirement to employ a full-time General Manager (who meets the minimum qualifications we specify periodically);
Point of sale
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesFranchise agreement
Moreover, we may, as often as we deem appropriate (including daily), access the Computer System and retrieve all information relating to the operation of your Hotel.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesFranchise agreement
We may require your Hotel Representative(s) and you (or your Principal) to attend and complete to our satisfaction various training courses that we periodically choose to provide at the times and locations that we designate, including courses and programs provided by third parties we designate.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
You (or one of your owners) and the General Manager must attend the Brand Conference.
The vendor opportunity at The James
The James is a lodging brand whose 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document leaves several key metrics undisclosed. Total unit counts, the split between franchised and company-owned locations, and year-over-year unit growth are not provided. Average unit volume (AUV) and royalty rates are also absent. For a software vendor, this means the quantitative addressable market cannot be sized from the FDD alone. The brand appears independently owned, with no parent company on file, and no operator footprint is mapped in our corpus. Vendors should treat this as a discovery-led opportunity where direct engagement is required to validate the number of potential software seats.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2026 FDD does not list any HQ executives in Item 1, so the buying center is unknown. There is no CIO, VP of IT, or operations lead named in the disclosure. Without a named decision-maker or a clear franchisor mandate signal, it is impossible to confirm whether purchasing authority sits at the headquarters level, with multi-unit operators, or at individual properties. Software vendors should approach The James prepared to identify and educate the relevant buyer, as no organizational chart is publicly available through the FDD.
Mandated and current tech stack
No mandated or recommended technology systems are captured in the 2026 FDD. The brand does not disclose a required point-of-sale system, property management software, or any operational tech stack. This absence of Item 11 signals suggests either a highly flexible technology environment or simply a lack of public disclosure. Vendors selling PMS, booking engines, revenue management, or guest experience platforms will find no incumbent named in the FDD, which can be an advantage if the brand is open to new solutions.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD, which typically outlines procurement restrictions and designated suppliers, was not extracted in our data. Similarly, Item 17 renewal terms and the initial franchise term length are not disclosed. This makes it impossible to estimate contract renewal windows or predict when software evaluation cycles might occur. Without these signals, vendors cannot time their outreach around known expiration dates. The procurement model—whether centralized, approved-supplier, or fully open—remains unconfirmed.
How to read the The James FDD
The 2026 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators and is available for review in the embedded viewer below. Key items to scrutinize for software sales intelligence include Item 8 (procurement restrictions), Item 11 (mandated systems and suppliers), and Item 17 (renewal and termination terms). Since our extracts show no data in these sections, a full read of the original document may reveal details not captured in structured databases. For a ranked target list of franchise brands with confirmed tech mandates and known decision-makers, FranCloud can help.
Questions vendors ask
The James, answered from the filing
The 2026 FDD does not list HQ executives or a defined buying center. Vendor outreach should aim to identify the relevant operations or IT lead directly.
No mandated POS, PMS, or operational systems are disclosed in the 2026 FDD. The brand appears to have no captured technology requirements.
The total number of US locations—franchised and company-owned—is not disclosed in the 2026 FDD. The addressable unit count remains unconfirmed.
The 2026 FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so it is unknown whether the brand uses designated suppliers, an approved list, or an open model.
With no renewal or term data in the 2026 FDD, contract cycles cannot be estimated. Vendors should engage directly to understand timing.
The 2026 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can view the embedded PDF viewer below to read the full 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 The James files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
No franchisee network yet. The James’s latest FDD reports no franchised locations.
Ownership
The portfolio behind The James
strategic_multibrand of Sonesta.
Sibling brands
Related Lodging brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.