This is an independent estimate of annual pre-tax owner earnings for a manager-run, traditional U.S. Quiznos restaurant. An actively working owner who replaces a paid food service manager could have an estimated owner-operator benefit of roughly $68,900–$98,400, but most of that difference is compensation for the owner's labor—not passive business profit.
The earnings figures above are independent analytical scenarios, not an Item 19 financial performance representation by Quiz Holdings, LLC. The model combines 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document facts with separately identified revenue, margin, and manager-wage assumptions. Actual results can differ materially by location, format, sales volume, food cost, labor, occupancy, financing, owner involvement, local competition, and execution.
Legal franchisor: Quiz Holdings, LLC. Disclosure: 2025 U.S. Franchise Disclosure Document issued October 7, 2025. Item 19 status: official annual sales only; no store-level profit, EBITDA, net income, cash flow, owner compensation, or owner earnings. Applicable population: traditional and non-traditional restaurants are disclosed separately. Selected method: Mode C, FDD-anchored scenario estimate. Supplemental benchmark: May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics food service manager wage. Checked: July 16, 2026.
Item 19 reports 2024 annual sales by format. Every owner-earnings number in this article is therefore estimated, not official.
Quiznos does not disclose unit expenses or profit, and the Item 19 narrative and displayed store counts do not reconcile. The model is useful for sensitivity analysis, but it cannot replace a restaurant-specific profit-and-loss statement.
The central revenue anchor for the scenarios; it is revenue, not owner income.
The average exceeds the median, indicating that higher-sales units lift the mean.
5% Royalty plus a current 4% Marketing Fee, before fixed technology-related charges.
May 2024 median wage for food service managers in food services and drinking places.
95 traditional plus 23 non-traditional units; the narrative separately references 151 franchised outlets.
Franchised restaurants declined from 201 at the start of 2022 to 151 at the end of 2024.
What does Quiznos Item 19 actually report?
Officially, Item 19 reports annual sales—not profit or owner compensation—for 2024 restaurants open at least 12 full months. The 2025 FDD separates traditional franchised restaurants, non-traditional franchised restaurants, and one non-traditional company-owned restaurant. Because those formats and ownership types have materially different economics, they should not be merged.
| Item 19 population | Store count | Average sales | Median sales | Low–high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional franchised restaurants | 95 | $393,944 | $368,576 | $85,932–$790,444 |
| Non-traditional franchised restaurants | 23 | $234,717 | $177,354 | $12,080–$624,828 |
Source: Quiz Holdings, LLC 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Item 19, p. 41. Item 19 defines “Average Sales” as average weekly sales in a given week multiplied by 52. A single non-traditional company-owned restaurant reported $4,461,613; it is excluded from this franchisee scenario because one affiliate-operated unit is not a comparable franchised-unit population.
The traditional median of $368,576 measures annual sales before food and paper, labor, manager compensation, rent and common-area charges, utilities, insurance, repairs, merchant and delivery costs, the Royalty, the Marketing Fee, technology systems, financing, taxes, and reinvestment. Calling this figure “owner income” would materially overstate what the FDD proves.
How is the annual earnings range estimated?
The estimate applies three transparent revenue-and-margin scenarios to the official traditional-unit median. Revenue is modeled at 80%, 100%, and 120% of $368,576 because Item 19 provides no quartiles. The corresponding 2%, 5%, and 8% all-in operating margins are editorial sensitivity assumptions—not Quiznos results and not claimed restaurant-industry averages.
The assumed margin is after normal unit-level operating expenses, a paid manager, the 5% Royalty, the current 4% Marketing Fee, and recurring Technology, POS Systems, and Music Fees. It is before personal income taxes, financing interest and principal, depreciation, capital expenditures, and extraordinary costs. This treatment avoids subtracting franchise fees twice.
- Conservative: 80% of traditional median sales and a 2% all-in manager-run margin.
- Base: traditional median sales and a 5% all-in manager-run margin.
- Upside: 120% of traditional median sales and an 8% all-in manager-run margin.
- Recurring franchise charges: the margin is assumed to absorb the FDD's 5% Royalty, current 4% Marketing Fee, and fixed system fees.
- Owner-operated labor value: $63,040 is added only when the owner replaces a full-time paid manager.
- Rounding: calculations use full-precision inputs and are rounded to the nearest $100 for publication.
| Scenario | Annual sales anchor | Manager-run pre-tax earnings | Owner-operator benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | $294,861 | $5,900 | $68,900 |
| Base | $368,576 | $18,400 | $81,500 |
| Upside | $442,291 | $35,400 | $98,400 |
Interpretation: small changes in sales and margin create large changes in residual earnings because restaurant costs are mostly fixed or semi-fixed.
Source: 2025 FDD Items 6 and 19; editorial revenue and margin assumptions shown above.
How does active owner involvement change the result?
Active operation can increase owner benefit by the value of a manager role, but it does not create the same amount of passive profit. Item 15 permits the owner or managing owner to use a full-time Designated Manager; when the owner does not participate on site, that manager must run daily operations full time. The model therefore treats manager compensation as an operating cost in the manager-run case.
The $63,040 input is the May 2024 median annual wage for food service managers in “food services and drinking places” reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Food Service Managers profile. BLS excludes self-employed workers, and the wage does not include employer payroll taxes, benefits, local wage differences, or the possibility that a Quiznos unit needs more or less management coverage.
Interpretation: squares show manager-run residual earnings; circles add $63,040 of owner labor value, not passive profit.
Source: scenario model; BLS May 2024 manager wage; 2025 FDD Item 15.
An owner who works as general manager may receive economic value in two forms: residual business profit and compensation for labor. If the owner later hires a manager, much of the owner-operator benefit can disappear unless sales or operating efficiency improve enough to cover the added payroll.
Which FDD fees materially affect owner earnings?
The most material disclosed recurring charges are a 5% Royalty and a current 4% Marketing Fee, together equal to 9% of Gross Sales. This is official 2025 FDD evidence for the current offer. Item 6 also lists fixed and per-terminal system charges that matter more at lower-sales locations.
- Royalty Fee — 5% of Gross Sales
- Paid weekly based on the prior week's Gross Sales.
- Marketing Fee — currently 4% of Gross Sales
- The FDD permits an increase to 5%, subject to a stated annual increase limit. The scenario uses the current 4% rate, not the maximum.
- Technology Fee — $100 to $400 per month
- A recurring systems and software charge that may change with the designated provider.
- POS Systems Fee — $230 to $340 per terminal per month
- The total depends on the number of terminals; one terminal cannot be assumed for every restaurant.
- Music Fee — $40 to $50 per month
- A smaller recurring charge that still contributes to fixed overhead.
For illustration, the Technology, one-terminal POS, and Music Fee ranges total about $4,440 to $9,480 per year. That calculation is derived from the monthly FDD ranges and assumes one POS terminal; an actual restaurant may pay more. These charges are treated as absorbed within the scenario margins rather than deducted again.
Source: Quiz Holdings, LLC 2025 FDD, Item 6, pp. 8–11. Item 7's $213,900–$648,800 initial investment is not an annual expense and is not subtracted from one year of sales.
Why could actual Quiznos owner earnings fall outside the range?
Actual earnings can be negative or substantially above the scenario range because Item 19 does not disclose costs, profit distribution, or closed-unit performance. The largest unresolved issue is the population mismatch: the narrative references 151 franchised outlets and says the table reflects all 151 qualifying franchised outlets, while the table displays only 118 franchised restaurants—95 traditional and 23 non-traditional—plus one company-owned restaurant.
A buyer should request written Item 19 substantiation and ask Quiz Holdings, LLC to reconcile the 151-outlet narrative with the 118 franchised units displayed. Until that is explained, the coverage percentage and potential survivorship bias cannot be determined reliably.
Item 20 adds another caution. The U.S. franchised restaurant count moved from 201 at the start of 2022 to 151 at the end of 2024, a derived decrease of 24.9%. That figure is not an owner-failure rate and does not identify the economics of each closure, transfer, termination, or non-renewal. It does show why current and former franchisee interviews should include units that left the system, not only current operators. Source: Quiz Holdings, LLC 2025 FDD, Item 20, pp. 42–48.
What variables move earnings most?
Sales productivity, labor deployment, food and paper cost, and occupancy are likely to dominate the result. This is an estimated traditional-unit analysis for 2024 performance; it cannot be transferred to airports, campuses, convenience stores, malls, or other non-traditional venues without venue-specific revenue shares, rent structures, operating hours, and staffing data.
- Financing interest and principal
- Item 7 states that its investment estimate excludes finance charges, interest, and debt service. Loan payments can reduce cash available to the owner materially.
- Personal income taxes
- No after-tax estimate is published because tax results depend on entity structure, jurisdiction, deductions, and owner circumstances.
- Depreciation and capital expenditures
- Equipment replacement, remodels, and other reinvestment can reduce cash even when accounting treatment differs.
- Multi-unit portfolio effects
- One-unit results are not multiplied across a portfolio because ramp-up, shared overhead, management layers, development timing, and unit maturity differ.
What should a buyer verify before relying on this range?
A buyer should replace every scenario assumption with location-specific evidence before making a decision. The most useful records are the Item 19 substantiation, actual unit profit-and-loss statements, payroll and manager schedules, lease economics, and recent franchisee interviews for the same format and market.
- Request the written substantiation for Item 19 and reconcile the 151-unit narrative with the 118 franchised units displayed in the table.
- Obtain monthly sales, food and paper cost, hourly labor, manager compensation, occupancy, utilities, insurance, merchant fees, repairs, and delivery commissions for comparable traditional restaurants.
- Ask current and former franchisees to separate business profit from owner salary, draws, distributions, and unpaid owner labor.
- Confirm the exact Technology Fee, POS terminal count, POS Systems Fee, Music Fee, local advertising obligations, and any required programs for the proposed restaurant.
- Review Item 20 departures and speak with operators whose restaurants closed, transferred, or left the system, not only current high-performing owners.
- Compare any current promotional terms on the official U.S. Quiznos franchise website with the FDD actually delivered and the final franchise agreement.
- Use the Federal Trade Commission Franchise Rule Compliance Guide and the federal Franchise Rule in 16 CFR Part 436 to understand disclosure and financial performance representation requirements.
What is the strongest defensible earnings conclusion?
The strongest defensible range is approximately $5,900 to $35,400 in annual pre-tax owner earnings for a manager-run traditional Quiznos restaurant, with an estimated owner-operator benefit of about $68,900 to $98,400 when the owner replaces a paid manager. Both ranges are scenario-based, not official Item 19 earnings. The most important driver is the combination of sales volume and operating margin; the largest unresolved uncertainty is the absence of unit expense data and the unexplained Item 19 population mismatch. Before relying on any figure, a buyer should verify the written Item 19 substantiation, normalize actual restaurant profit-and-loss statements for owner labor and manager compensation, and test the assumptions through interviews with current and former franchisees in the same format and market.