Official 2025 earnings result
Scooter's Coffee reported $134,457 for 621 Reporting Kiosk Stores and $155,439 for 45 Reporting End Cap Stores under that measure. Those figures are the strongest available same-brand earnings evidence, but they are not salary, distributions, after-tax take-home pay, or cash after loan payments.
Important interpretation
The official earnings figures include a paid store manager in Labor Costs and include the current 6% Royalty, 2% National Marketing and Advertising Contribution, and $350 monthly Technology Fee. The measure excludes financing costs, depreciation, amortization, personal income taxes, and ongoing capital investment. Actual owner cash can therefore differ materially by sales, labor, rent, financing, owner involvement, location, and execution.
Data basis
Legal franchisor: Scooter's Coffee, LLC, a Nebraska limited liability company; parent: Boundless Enterprises, LLC. The FDD was issued April 3, 2026. The earnings analysis uses Scooter's Coffee, LLC 2026 FDD, Item 19, pages 40-50, with outlet context from Item 20, pages 51-58, fee terms from Item 6, pages 6-10, and owner-participation terms from Item 15, page 35. The official franchise site publishes matching 2025 Kiosk performance figures. Sources and pages were checked July 17, 2026.
Official
Average Kiosk official result
621 Reporting Kiosk Stores; the median was $138,332.
Official
Average End Cap official result
45 Reporting End Cap Stores; the median was $153,411.
Official
Average Kiosk Gross Sales
Section C reporting population; Gross Sales is revenue, not owner earnings.
Official
Average End Cap Gross Sales
Section C reporting population; average Net Sales were $994,655.
Official
FDD “Net Profit Margin”
Kiosk / End Cap, calculated from the disclosed result divided by Net Sales.
Official
Current recurring franchise charges used
6% Royalty plus 2% national marketing on Net Sales, plus annualized Technology Fee.
Item 19 evidence
What does Scooter's Coffee Item 19 actually measure?
The official earnings measure is EBITDA for selected franchised stores that operated throughout 2025 and supplied complete cost data. It is a store-level operating measure, not a per-owner salary figure. The FDD separately reports Kiosk Stores and End Cap Stores and excludes affiliate-owned stores and Other Stores from the financial tables.
- Gross Sales
- Net Sales plus Discounts. It is the top-line sales measure and must not be read as owner income.
- Net Sales
- Sales after the FDD-defined discounts. Royalty and marketing charges are calculated on Net Sales.
- Gross Profit
- Net Sales minus Cost of Goods Sold. It is before Labor Costs, Rental Expense, franchise fees, card processing, and overhead.
- EBITDA
- Gross Profit minus the Section C operating expenses, before borrowing costs, depreciation, and amortization. It also excludes ongoing investment in the Store.
- Owner earnings proxy
- For a manager-run Store, this measure is the closest disclosed proxy for pre-tax owner earnings before debt service, because Labor Costs already include an in-store manager. It is not cash after financing or taxes.
How does revenue turn into the average Kiosk result?
The 2025 Reporting Kiosk Store bridge begins with $998,869 of average Gross Sales and ends with a $134,457 operating result. This is an official FDD bridge for 621 Kiosk Stores, although Card Processing and Overhead are estimated rather than store-reported.
| Average Kiosk line item | 2025 amount | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Sales | $998,869 | Official revenue measure |
| Less Discounts | ($75,064) | Produces $923,805 Net Sales |
| Less Cost of Goods Sold | ($322,691) | Produces $601,114 Gross Profit |
| Less Labor Costs and Rental Expense | ($310,082) | Labor includes the in-store manager and payroll taxes, but not benefits |
| Less Royalty, marketing, Technology Fee, card processing, and overhead | ($156,575) | Includes estimated card processing and estimated overhead |
| EBITDA | $134,457 | Official FDD result; rounding causes a $1 bridge difference |
Revenue is not earnings
Average Kiosk Gross Sales were nearly $1.0 million, but the average operating result was about $134,000. Average End Cap Gross Sales were about $1.08 million, while the average operating result was about $155,000. The gap reflects discounts, product costs, payroll, occupancy, franchise charges, payment processing, and overhead.
Official performance bands
What is a reasonable annual earnings range?
A defensible manager-run planning range is approximately $4,500-$274,000 for a Kiosk and $34,600-$306,000 for an End Cap, using the FDD's bottom-quartile, all-reporting, and top-quartile average results. The Conservative, Base, and Upside labels below are analytical labels mapped to official cohorts; they are not probabilities, forecasts, or guarantees.
Official operating-earnings bands by format
Bottom-quartile average, all-reporting average, and top-quartile average operating results for the 2025 Reporting Stores.
Interpretation: End Cap averages were higher in each displayed band, but the End Cap sample was much smaller. Source: Scooter's Coffee, LLC 2026 FDD, Item 19, pp. 44-47. These cohort averages are not outcome probabilities.
| Analytical band | Kiosk official result | End Cap official result | Official cohort used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | $4,524 | $34,640 | Bottom-quartile average |
| Base | $134,457 | $155,439 | All Reporting Stores average |
| Upside | $273,683 | $305,995 | Top-quartile average |
The downside is wider than the quartile averages suggest
Individual 2025 results ranged from -$250,144 to $613,869 among Reporting Kiosk Stores and from -$69,727 to $597,369 among Reporting End Cap Stores. A bottom-quartile average above zero does not mean every lower-performing Store was profitable.
Owner role
How does owner involvement change the result?
A manager-run owner can treat the official average result as the closest disclosed pre-tax operating-earnings proxy, while an owner-operator may receive additional economic benefit by replacing some paid manager labor. Scooter's Coffee does not require a Principal Owner to manage the Store personally; a Designated Manager may operate it instead.
Independent owner-operator estimate
The owner-operator figures below are independent analytical scenarios, not an Item 19 financial performance representation by Scooter's Coffee. They combine official 2025 FDD results with the BLS May 2024 median annual wage of $63,040 for Food Service Managers in food services and drinking places. Actual results can differ materially by role coverage, local wages, payroll taxes, benefits, staffing depth, hours worked, sales, occupancy, financing, and execution.
Manager-run earnings proxy versus owner-operator benefit
Central 2025 average result by format, plus a $63,040 manager-wage proxy when the owner fully replaces that role.
Interpretation: The derived owner-operator benefit includes both residual Store operating result and the market value of work performed by the owner. It is not passive profit. The calculation adds wage only and does not add employer payroll-tax or benefit savings. Sources: Scooter's Coffee, LLC 2026 FDD, Item 19, pp. 44-47 and Item 15, p. 35; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2024 wage data.
| Owner-operator analytical band | Kiosk benefit | End Cap benefit | Formula |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | $67,564 | $97,680 | Bottom-quartile average official result + $63,040 wage proxy |
| Base | $197,497 | $218,479 | All-reporting average official result + $63,040 wage proxy |
| Upside | $336,723 | $369,035 | Top-quartile average official result + $63,040 wage proxy |
What must be true for the owner-operator estimate to apply?
The owner must substantially replace a paid Designated Manager rather than merely help at the Store. This is a derived 2025 owner-operator scenario for the Reporting Kiosk and End Cap formats, not an official owner-compensation disclosure. The FDD requires a Principal Owner, Designated Manager, or shift supervisor to be available during operations, and replacement managers must complete required training.
- The owner performs the core Food Service Manager duties and covers the required management responsibility.
- The Store does not retain another full-cost manager for the same role.
- The $63,040 BLS wage is a national industry benchmark, not a Scooter's Coffee payroll disclosure or a local market quote.
- The owner-operator benefit remains before personal taxes, financing payments, depreciation, and capital expenditures.
- For multi-unit ownership, the FDD may require Multi-Unit Leaders, so one owner cannot assume a full manager saving at every Store.
Recurring obligations
Which franchise fees are already reflected in the official earnings measure?
The 2025 earnings tables already charge the current Royalty, National Marketing and Advertising Contribution, and Technology Fee. Subtracting those amounts again would double-count them. Future or conditional marketing and technology obligations remain a separate risk.
| Recurring obligation | Current FDD amount | Item 19 treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% of Net Sales | Imputed in the 2025 tables |
| National Marketing and Advertising Contribution | 2% of Net Sales | Imputed in the 2025 tables; may rise to 4% |
| Technology Fee | $350 per month | $4,200 annualized in the 2025 tables; subject to increases under Item 6 |
| Local marketing | None currently; up to 2% | Not charged in the disclosed 2025 tables |
| Regional cooperative | None currently; up to 3% | Not charged in the disclosed 2025 tables; total marketing expense is capped at 6% |
| Inventory management program | None currently; up to 0.25% | Not charged in the disclosed 2025 tables |
Debt-service effect
The disclosed measure is calculated before payments and borrowing costs related to the Initial Franchise Fee, Item 7 investment, and ongoing investment. The FDD does not offer franchisor financing. Interest and principal therefore must be modeled from the buyer's actual loan structure and can materially reduce distributable cash even when the Store result is positive.
Uncertainty and coverage
How much confidence should a buyer place in the official averages?
Confidence is high that the FDD accurately states the disclosed 2025 operating measure, but lower for any individual owner's future cash flow. The Kiosk sample is broad; the End Cap sample is smaller; closed Stores and Stores with incomplete cost data are excluded; and two operating-cost lines are estimated.
| Coverage issue | Kiosk | End Cap | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchised Stores at year-end 2025 | 768 | 62 | System population before full-year and data-completeness filters |
| Operated for the entire year | 697 | 52 | Newer and non-full-year Stores are not in Section C |
| Reporting Stores used for Section C | 621 | 45 | Complete cost-data cohort; 89.1% and 86.5% of full-year Stores, respectively |
| Stores excluded for incomplete cost data | 76 | 7 | Unknown results can create selection uncertainty |
| Permanent closures excluded from 2025 participating cohorts | 22 | 2 | Survivorship effects may make continuing-Store results look stronger than all opened Stores |
What cost definitions remain unresolved?
The largest document-level uncertainty is the treatment of Overhead and the costs omitted from the disclosed measure. Section C tables use $52,500 of Overhead for every quartile and both formats, while Note 9 states an average of $49,800. The published table amount is used here because it reconciles to the stated result.
- Request the written Item 19 substantiation and ask why the Overhead tables show $52,500 while Note 9 states $49,800.
- Confirm local manager wages, payroll taxes, employee benefits, and whether regional-management costs are required.
- Obtain actual rent, common-area charges, property taxes, insurance, utility, repair, and maintenance estimates for the proposed site.
- Ask current and former franchisees for Store-level operating results, capital expenditures, debt service, owner hours, distributions, and retained cash.
- Compare the proposed Store's format and maturity with the exact Kiosk or End Cap cohort rather than using a blended system figure.
- Review Item 20 contacts and discuss the 2025 openings, transfers, terminations, non-renewal, reacquisition, and other cessations with operators.
Decision synthesis
What owner-earnings figure is most defensible?
The most defensible central benchmark is the official 2025 average EBITDA of $134,457 for a Reporting Kiosk Store and $155,439 for a Reporting End Cap Store. A broader official cohort-based planning range is roughly $4,500-$274,000 for Kiosks and $34,600-$306,000 for End Caps, while individual reported results included losses and substantially higher outcomes.
The most important earnings driver is the combination of Net Sales and labor efficiency; the largest unresolved uncertainty is how a proposed Store's real labor, occupancy, overhead, capital spending, and financing compare with the FDD cohort. Owner operation may raise economic benefit to an estimated central level of about $197,497 for a Kiosk or $218,479 for an End Cap, but the added amount compensates the owner for management labor and is not passive business profit.
Before relying on any figure, verify the exact Item 19 population, obtain written substantiation, reconcile the Overhead discrepancy, and interview current and former franchisees about manager-run results, owner hours, debt service, capital expenditures, and actual distributions. Personal income taxes are excluded because they depend on entity structure, jurisdiction, deductions, and owner circumstances.