How Much Does a Holiday Stationstores Franchise Cost?

Holiday Stationstores has two materially different Item 7 cost structures. The 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document lists $3,356,200 to $7,742,500 for a new-construction Holiday Stationstore and $896,200 to $3,252,500 to convert an existing convenience store and fuel station. Those are Estimated Initial Investment ranges, not the Initial Franchise Fee and not a stated cash or liquidity threshold.

The FDD cover further states that $206,250-$452,166 of the initial investment is payable to HDS or its affiliates, including Holiday Stationstores, Inc. and Fuel South Express, LLC, for specified fuel, delivery, commissary, training, sign, advertising, setup and system payments.

The conversion model starts with an operating convenience-store and fuel-station asset, so the disclosure assigns $0 to land, lower building and site work, lower signage, and potentially lower Equipment costs. New construction includes land at $500,000 to $2,000,000 and building and site work at $1,100,000 to $2,250,000.

The initial-investment table combines the Initial Franchise Fee, training, real estate and development, store assets, inventories, signage, insurance, technology, opening advertising and three months of Additional Funds. The categories below preserve the separate new-construction and conversion ranges.

Premises, construction and major assets

Opening inventory, systems and working capital

At the disclosed maximums, building and site work and land are the two largest initial-investment categories. Store assets and the optional car wash are also substantial, which is why a buyer cannot interpret the $25,000 Initial Franchise Fee as the capital required to open.

Owned-real-estate assumption

The disclosed totals assume the franchisee owns the land and building, except in a conversion. The disclosure separately says a leased site may generally involve $2,000-$10,000 per month, but it does not publish a separate leased-site total.

Holiday Express

Item 1 says a site may be branded Holiday Express and may have a different footprint or program mix. Item 7 does not provide a separate Holiday Express investment range, so no lower Express estimate should be inferred.

Actual variation

Location, premises size, wage rates, transportation costs and other economic factors may change the actual investment.

The cash requirement is staged. The Franchise Agreement payment occurs first, while the largest checks generally arise during site acquisition, construction, asset procurement, inventory loading and opening.

The central ongoing obligation is a hybrid Royalty Fee. For each Accounting Period, the standard fee is the greater of $500 or the sum of $0.0075 per gallon of Automotive Fuels sold plus 3.5% of defined Gross Sales from Groceries, Food Service Items, Merchandise and services such as car washes. An Accounting Period is currently 28 or 35 days, as HDS specifies in writing.

Item 6 also states that local advertising is required, but its cost depends on local rates and the promotion. Unless otherwise stated, the disclosed fees are nonrefundable, due upon invoicing and applied separately to each store. Item 8 requires at least 95% of Automotive Fuels gallons to be purchased from HDS and all such fuel deliveries to be handled by Fuel South Express, LLC; posted prices exclude applicable taxes, transportation charges and potential surcharges. Holiday Brand Products and Commissary Products are also subject to designated-source requirements.

The Franchise Agreement term is 10 years and is not automatically renewable. Item 17 says a new agreement may be signed only if both parties agree; the franchisee must give at least 180 days' notice, be current on payments, agree to remodel, complete required training and accept the then-current form. No fixed renewal fee is disclosed, but remodel work and changed fee terms may create a material renewal cost.

No fixed Liquid Capital or Net Worth amount is disclosed. Item 7 says HDS requires net worth and liquidity standards and recommended limits on financed investment, but those standards are established from time to time. A buyer therefore cannot treat the disclosed low end as the minimum cash requirement.

Item 10 says HDS may offer direct financing for specified assets and development uses. Qualification is not guaranteed, HDS generally does not provide other financing, and it does not guarantee a franchisee's note, lease or other obligation.

An SBA-backed loan is a separate lender decision. The SBA 7(a) program describes eligible uses such as real estate, working capital, machinery, machinery and supplies, while the SBA Franchise Directory is a lender eligibility tool rather than an endorsement or approval of a franchise investment.

The 2025 disclosure says HDS intends to require franchised Holiday Stationstores to convert to Circle K branding within a market deadline that may fall between three months and four years after the Franchise Agreement takes effect. The disclosed conversion consists of changing Holiday signage to Circle K signage.

Sources: 2025 disclosure, Item 1, pages 3-4; Item 11, page 18.

The official range is a disclosure framework, not a site-specific construction quote. The following checks address the main variables the 2025 disclosure leaves open.

The FTC Consumer's Guide to Buying a Franchise explains why Items 5 through 7 should be read with the Franchise Agreement, supplier restrictions and costs that require separate investigation.

A prospective Holiday Stationstores franchisee should distinguish four numbers. The $25,000 Initial Franchise Fee is the signing payment. The $896,200-$3,252,500 conversion range and $3,356,200-$7,742,500 new-construction range are disclosed Estimated Initial Investment totals. The $75,000-$150,000 Additional Funds allowance is already included for three months. Liquid Capital and Net Worth thresholds exist, but the 2025 FDD does not state their amounts.

The largest unresolved questions are the real-estate structure, site work, asset scope, optional car wash, current financing approval, current variable fee schedules and the buyer's required liquidity. Those points should be reconciled against the current FDD and Franchise Agreement before any payment.