Top 50 Brands by Number of Multi-Unit Franchisees
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 into this growing operational approach. Here are 2021'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 ZEES |
SINGLE-UNIT ZEES |
GRAND TOTAL |
DATA YEAR |
1 |
SUBWAY |
3,669 |
3,491 |
7,160 |
2019 |
2 |
MCDONALD’S |
1,840 |
318 |
2,158 |
2019 |
3 |
THE UPS STORE |
903 |
2,312 |
3,215 |
2019 |
4 |
AFC |
841 |
1,904 |
2,745 |
2019 |
5 |
DUNKIN’ |
811 |
5,115 |
5,926 |
2019 |
6 |
LITTLE CAESARS |
653 |
66 |
719 |
2019 |
7 |
HEALTH MART PHARMACY |
579 |
3,238 |
3,817 |
2019 |
8 |
GREAT CLIPS |
574 |
243 |
817 |
2020 |
9 |
ACE HARDWARE |
571 |
2,479 |
3,050 |
2019 |
10 |
H&R BLOCK |
554 |
670 |
1,224 |
2019 |
11 |
DOMINO’S PIZZA |
535 |
228 |
763 |
2020 |
12 |
LIBERTY TAX SERVICE |
484 |
675 |
1,159 |
2020 |
13 |
FIREHOUSE SUBS |
467 |
15 |
482 |
2019 |
14 |
JIMMY JOHN’S |
429 |
309 |
738 |
2019 |
15 |
VISION SOURCE |
416 |
2,068 |
2,484 |
2019 |
16 |
DQ GRILL & CHILL |
403 |
1,095 |
1,498 |
2019 |
17 |
JACKSON HEWITT TAX SERVICE |
370 |
151 |
521 |
2019 |
18 |
BURGER KING |
369 |
357 |
726 |
2020 |
19 |
CENTURY 21 |
316 |
639 |
955 |
2020 |
19 |
CHICK-FIL-A |
316 |
1,503 |
1,819 |
2019 |
21 |
TACO BELL |
316 |
300 |
616 |
2020 |
22 |
HISSHO SUSHI |
309 |
472 |
781 |
2019 |
23 |
JERSEY MIKE’S |
295 |
223 |
518 |
2020 |
24 |
SUPERCUTS |
287 |
125 |
412 |
2019 |
25 |
SPORT CLIPS |
283 |
115 |
398 |
2019 |
26 |
ANYTIME FITNESS |
266 |
1,591 |
1,857 |
2019 |
27 |
PAPA JOHN’S |
258 |
370 |
628 |
2020 |
28 |
BASKIN-ROBBINS |
255 |
1600 |
1,855 |
2019 |
29 |
MASSAGE ENVY |
244 |
213 |
457 |
2019 |
30 |
KFC |
241 |
352 |
593 |
2020 |
31 |
SONIC DRIVE-IN |
238 |
173 |
411 |
2019 |
32 |
SERVPRO |
237 |
772 |
1,009 |
2019 |
33 |
EDIBLE |
227 |
289 |
516 |
2019 |
34 |
WENDY’S |
216 |
114 |
330 |
2019 |
35 |
PAPA MURPHY’S |
207 |
224 |
431 |
2019 |
36 |
COLDWELL BANKER |
206 |
423 |
629 |
2020 |
37 |
SMOOTHIE KING |
204 |
233 |
437 |
2019 |
38 |
HUNTINGTON LEARNING CENTER |
198 |
40 |
238 |
2019 |
39 |
WINGSTOP |
184 |
91 |
275 |
2019 |
40 |
FANTASTIC SAMS |
183 |
248 |
431 |
2019 |
41 |
COLD STONE CREAMERY |
174 |
393 |
567 |
2019 |
42 |
DQ TREAT |
170 |
760 |
930 |
2019 |
43 |
CULVER’S |
167 |
293 |
460 |
2020 |
44 |
EUROPEAN WAX CENTER |
165 |
114 |
279 |
2019 |
45 |
ARBY’S |
162 |
233 |
395 |
2019 |
45 |
POPEYES LOUISIANA KITCHEN |
162 |
649 |
811 |
2020 |
47 |
MIDAS |
159 |
263 |
422 |
2019 |
48 |
MATHNASIUM |
155 |
408 |
563 |
2020 |
49 |
CLUB PILATES |
152 |
166 |
318 |
2019 |
50 |
PIZZA HUT |
148 |
149 |
297 |
2020 |
Top 50 Brands by Percentage of Multi-Unit Franchisees
RANK |
BRAND |
% MULTI-UNIT ZEES |
MULTI-UNIT ZEES |
SINGLE-UNIT ZEES |
GRAND TOTAL |
DATA YEAR |
1 |
PANCHERO’S |
100.00% |
26 |
0 |
26 |
2019 |
2 |
FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES |
99.02% |
101 |
1 |
102 |
2019 |
3 |
FIREHOUSE SUBS |
96.89% |
467 |
15 |
482 |
2019 |
4 |
JACK IN THE BOX |
94.23% |
98 |
6 |
104 |
2020 |
5 |
FRESHII |
94.20% |
65 |
4 |
69 |
2019 |
6 |
CAPTAIN D’S |
93.24% |
69 |
5 |
74 |
2019 |
7 |
SMARTSTYLE |
92.48% |
123 |
10 |
133 |
2019 |
8 |
MIRACLE-EAR |
91.20% |
114 |
11 |
125 |
2020 |
9 |
LITTLE CAESARS |
90.82% |
653 |
66 |
719 |
2019 |
10 |
PALM BEACH TAN |
89.29% |
25 |
3 |
28 |
2019 |
11 |
APPLEBEE’S |
87.50% |
28 |
4 |
32 |
2020 |
12 |
MCDONALD’S |
85.26% |
1,840 |
318 |
2,158 |
2019 |
13 |
HUNTINGTON LEARNING CENTER |
83.19% |
198 |
40 |
238 |
2019 |
14 |
FRONTIER ADJUSTERS |
79.23% |
103 |
27 |
130 |
2019 |
15 |
TIDE CLEANERS |
78.57% |
22 |
6 |
28 |
2019 |
16 |
COST CUTTERS FAMILY HAIR SALON |
75.00% |
60 |
20 |
80 |
2019 |
16 |
GODFATHER’S PIZZA |
75.00% |
129 |
43 |
172 |
2019 |
18 |
CARL’S JR. |
71.68% |
81 |
32 |
113 |
2019 |
19 |
SPORT CLIPS |
71.11% |
283 |
115 |
398 |
2019 |
20 |
JACKSON HEWITT TAX SERVICE |
71.02% |
370 |
151 |
521 |
2019 |
21 |
GREAT CLIPS |
70.26% |
574 |
243 |
817 |
2020 |
22 |
DOMINO’S PIZZA |
70.12% |
535 |
228 |
763 |
2020 |
23 |
SUPERCUTS |
69.66% |
287 |
125 |
412 |
2019 |
24 |
BOJANGLES’ |
68.18% |
45 |
21 |
66 |
2019 |
25 |
PACLEASE |
67.86% |
38 |
18 |
56 |
2020 |
26 |
WINGSTOP |
66.91% |
184 |
91 |
275 |
2019 |
27 |
PENN STATION EAST COAST SUBS |
66.25% |
53 |
27 |
80 |
2019 |
28 |
SOLA SALON STUDIOS |
66.17% |
88 |
45 |
133 |
2019 |
29 |
SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY |
65.94% |
91 |
47 |
138 |
2020 |
30 |
ROSATI’S CHICAGO PIZZA |
65.79% |
25 |
13 |
38 |
2019 |
31 |
BARBERITOS |
65.71% |
23 |
12 |
35 |
2019 |
32 |
PLAYA BOWLS |
65.52% |
19 |
10 |
29 |
2019 |
33 |
WENDY’S |
65.45% |
216 |
114 |
330 |
2019 |
34 |
FREEDOM BOAT CLUB |
65.31% |
32 |
17 |
49 |
2019 |
35 |
MICHELIN COMMERCIAL SERVICE NETWORK |
65.00% |
26 |
14 |
40 |
2019 |
36 |
SUN TAN CITY |
64.10% |
25 |
14 |
39 |
2019 |
37 |
HARDEE’S |
63.71% |
79 |
45 |
124 |
2019 |
38 |
BUDGET |
61.90% |
26 |
16 |
42 |
2019 |
38 |
RALLY’S |
61.90% |
26 |
16 |
42 |
2020 |
40 |
RENT-A-CENTER |
61.54% |
16 |
10 |
26 |
2019 |
41 |
HOMESMART |
60.38% |
32 |
21 |
53 |
2019 |
42 |
THE GOOD FEET STORE |
60.00% |
18 |
12 |
30 |
2019 |
43 |
EUROPEAN WAX CENTER |
59.14% |
165 |
114 |
279 |
2019 |
44 |
FUZZY’S TACO SHOP |
58.70% |
27 |
19 |
46 |
2019 |
45 |
JIMMY JOHN’S |
58.13% |
429 |
309 |
738 |
2019 |
46 |
SONIC DRIVE-IN |
57.91% |
238 |
173 |
411 |
2019 |
47 |
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS REAL ESTATE |
57.02% |
69 |
52 |
121 |
2020 |
48 |
JERSEY MIKE’S |
56.95% |
295 |
223 |
518 |
2020 |
49 |
TWO MEN AND A TRUCK |
56.74% |
80 |
61 |
141 |
2019 |
50 |
STRETCH ZONE |
56.25% |
18 |
14 |
32 |
2019 |
SOURCE: Frandata. Brands with 25 or fewer franchisees were excluded.
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