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Jimmy John's vs Cousins Subs — which franchise is the better buy?

Side by side from the public FDDs — no franchisor spin.

	Jimmy John's	Cousins Subs
Disclosure honesty	B	C
Investment from	$206,200	$464,700
Total fees	10.5%	8%
Outlets	2,777	92
Lawsuits	13	0

Jimmy John's: what their numbers say

2025 AUVs: 2,581 restaurants, median $955,639, average $1,007,437. Excludes new, closed, multi-brand locations. No net income/expense data provided.

Cousins Subs: what their numbers say

Discloses affiliate-owned shop gross receipts and EBITDA by revenue tier (3 years). EBITDA data is company stores only—no royalties paid, no corporate overhead allocated—making profitability appear better than franchisee reality. No franchisee net income shown.

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