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Jimmy John's vs McAlister's Deli — which franchise is the better buy?

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

	Jimmy John's	McAlister's Deli
Disclosure honesty	B	B
Investment from	$206,200	$910,175
Total fees	10.5%	7%
Outlets	2,777	572
Lawsuits	13	4

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.

McAlister's Deli: what their numbers say

Net sales by quartile for 477 traditional franchises FY2025. Top quartile averaged $2.75M; 44% of franchises met/exceeded system average of $1.87M. Excludes non-traditional locations, express formats, affiliate-owned.

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