The 2017 Multi-Unit 50: Ranking the Most Multi-Friendly Brands
Multi-brand franchising is a growing phenomenon. Some franchisees are not content with operating one brand so they add one, two, three, or more other brands to their portfolios. Our annual Multi-Brand 50 issue provides data supplied by FRANdata that gives insight to this growing operational approach. Here are this year's rankings of the country's largest multi-brand operators, along with the brands they've chosen.
Top 50 Brands by Number of Multi-Unit Franchisees
RANK |
BRAND |
MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEES |
SINGLE-UNIT FRANCHISEES |
TOTAL FRANCHISEES |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
SUBWAY |
4,186 |
4,033 |
8,219 |
2 |
MCDONALD'S |
2,070 |
435 |
2,505 |
3 |
DUNKIN' DONUTS |
1,179 |
773 |
1,952 |
4 |
LIBERTY TAX SERVICE |
810 |
972 |
1,782 |
5 |
THE UPS STORE |
801 |
2,359 |
3,160 |
6 |
AFC (ADVANCED FRESH CONCEPTS) |
778 |
1,544 |
2,322 |
7 |
H&R BLOCK |
720 |
792 |
1,512 |
8 |
LITTLE CAESARS |
709 |
75 |
784 |
9 |
DAIRY QUEEN |
600 |
2,135 |
2,735 |
10 |
GREAT CLIPS |
565 |
359 |
924 |
11 |
DOMINO'S |
544 |
307 |
851 |
12 |
HEALTH MART PHARMACY |
535 |
2,934 |
3,469 |
13 |
RE/MAX |
516 |
1,896 |
2,412 |
14 |
BURGER KING |
507 |
403 |
910 |
15 |
ACE HARDWARE |
506 |
2,600 |
3,106 |
16 |
FIREHOUSE SUBS |
469 |
19 |
488 |
17 |
VISION SOURCE |
425 |
2,235 |
2,660 |
18 |
JACKSON HEWITT TAX SERVICE |
416 |
142 |
558 |
19 |
JIMMY JOHN'S |
403 |
322 |
725 |
20 |
TACO BELL |
370 |
327 |
697 |
21 |
CENTURY 21 |
359 |
908 |
1,267 |
22 |
ANYTIME FITNESS |
349 |
1,433 |
1,782 |
23 |
KFC |
343 |
526 |
869 |
24 |
WENDY'S |
329 |
242 |
571 |
25 |
HISSHO SUSHI |
318 |
10 |
328 |
26 |
SPORT CLIPS |
307 |
151 |
458 |
27 |
COUNTRY INN & SUITES BY CARLSON |
273 |
78 |
351 |
28 |
PAPA JOHN'S |
272 |
443 |
715 |
29 |
DUNKIN' DONUT/BASKIN-ROBBINS COMBO |
256 |
237 |
493 |
30 |
PAPA MURPHY'S |
254 |
286 |
540 |
31 |
EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS |
252 |
304 |
556 |
32 |
COLDWELL BANKER |
248 |
509 |
757 |
33 |
FANTASTIC SAMS |
222 |
315 |
537 |
34 |
CHICK-FIL-A |
215 |
1,261 |
1,476 |
34 |
SONIC DRIVE-IN |
215 |
322 |
537 |
36 |
GNC |
211 |
294 |
505 |
37 |
SUPERCUTS |
208 |
150 |
358 |
38 |
DQ TREAT |
207 |
873 |
1,080 |
39 |
JERSEY MIKE'S SUBS |
198 |
196 |
394 |
40 |
ARBY'S |
192 |
134 |
326 |
41 |
BASKIN-ROBBINS |
191 |
620 |
811 |
42 |
PIZZA HUT |
178 |
122 |
300 |
43 |
COLD STONE CREAMERY |
176 |
410 |
586 |
44 |
AUNTIE ANNE'S |
172 |
295 |
467 |
45 |
MIDAS |
166 |
272 |
438 |
45 |
POPEYES LOUISIANA KITCHEN |
166 |
552 |
718 |
47 |
ZAXBY'S |
164 |
30 |
194 |
48 |
JIFFY LUBE |
147 |
163 |
310 |
48 |
KUMON |
147 |
1,188 |
1,335 |
50 |
MIRACLE-EAR |
143 |
25 |
168 |
Top 50 Brands by Percentage of Multi-Unit Franchisees
RANK |
BRAND |
% MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEES |
# MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEES |
# SINGLE-UNIT FRANCHISEES |
TOTAL # FRANCHISEES |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
PANERA BREAD |
100.00% |
28 |
0 |
28 |
2 |
FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES |
97.60% |
122 |
3 |
125 |
3 |
GATEWAY NEWSTANDS |
97.26% |
71 |
2 |
73 |
4 |
HISSHO SUSHI |
96.95% |
318 |
10 |
328 |
5 |
APPLEBEE'S |
96.88% |
31 |
1 |
32 |
6 |
PANCHEROS MEXICAN GRILL |
96.67% |
29 |
1 |
30 |
7 |
FIREHOUSE SUBS |
96.11% |
469 |
19 |
488 |
8 |
SAM'S HOT DOG STAND |
96.00% |
24 |
1 |
25 |
9 |
BOJANGLES' |
94.94% |
75 |
4 |
79 |
10 |
JACK IN THE BOX |
91.00% |
91 |
9 |
100 |
11 |
LITTLE CAESARS |
90.43% |
709 |
75 |
784 |
12 |
CAPTAIN D'S |
90.00% |
63 |
7 |
70 |
13 |
WORLD OF BEER |
89.66% |
26 |
3 |
29 |
14 |
BRUEGGER'S BAGELS |
89.29% |
25 |
3 |
28 |
14 |
PALM BEACH TAN |
89.29% |
25 |
3 |
28 |
16 |
THE LITTLE GYM |
86.54% |
135 |
21 |
156 |
17 |
MIRACLE-EAR |
85.12% |
143 |
25 |
168 |
18 |
ZAXBY'S |
84.54% |
164 |
30 |
194 |
19 |
MCDONALD'S |
82.63% |
2,070 |
435 |
2,505 |
20 |
JIMMY’S PIZZA |
82.14% |
23 |
5 |
28 |
20 |
SWEET FACTORY |
82.14% |
23 |
5 |
28 |
22 |
GRANDY'S |
81.82% |
27 |
6 |
33 |
23 |
PASSPORT HEALTH |
81.40% |
35 |
8 |
43 |
24 |
HERTZ |
79.55% |
35 |
9 |
44 |
25 |
SIMPLE SIMON'S PIZZA |
78.13% |
100 |
28 |
128 |
26 |
COUNTRY INN & SUITES BY CARLSON |
77.78% |
273 |
78 |
351 |
27 |
HUNTINGTON LEARNING CENTER |
76.30% |
132 |
41 |
173 |
28 |
RADISSON |
76.09% |
70 |
22 |
92 |
29 |
BARBERITOS |
75.86% |
22 |
7 |
29 |
29 |
BUDDY'S HOME FURNISHINGS |
75.86% |
22 |
7 |
29 |
31 |
AARON'S |
75.25% |
76 |
25 |
101 |
32 |
FRESHII |
75.00% |
39 |
13 |
52 |
32 |
RALLY'S |
75.00% |
24 |
8 |
32 |
34 |
JACKSON HEWITT TAX SERVICE |
74.55% |
416 |
142 |
558 |
35 |
GODFATHER'S PIZZA |
73.45% |
130 |
47 |
177 |
36 |
PLANET FITNESS |
72.49% |
137 |
52 |
189 |
37 |
CARL'S JR. |
72.32% |
81 |
31 |
112 |
38 |
SUN TAN CITY |
70.00% |
28 |
12 |
40 |
39 |
VALVOLINE INSTANT OIL CHANGE |
68.75% |
55 |
25 |
80 |
40 |
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS REAL ESTATE |
68.66% |
46 |
21 |
67 |
41 |
COST CUTTERS FAMILY HAIR SALON |
68.57% |
48 |
22 |
70 |
42 |
SPORT CLIPS |
67.03% |
307 |
151 |
458 |
43 |
HARDEE'S |
66.40% |
83 |
42 |
125 |
44 |
DUTCH BROS. |
66.22% |
49 |
25 |
74 |
45 |
PACLEASE |
66.10% |
39 |
20 |
59 |
46 |
DENNY'S |
65.89% |
141 |
73 |
214 |
47 |
PENN STATION EAST COAST SUBS |
65.48% |
55 |
29 |
84 |
48 |
CHECKERS |
64.76% |
68 |
37 |
105 |
49 |
MCALISTER'S DELI |
64.71% |
33 |
18 |
51 |
50 |
DOMINO'S |
63.92% |
544 |
307 |
851 |
Source: FRANdata. Brands with 25 or fewer franchisees were excluded.
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Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine: Issue 3, 2017
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