Scooter's Coffee Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Scooter's Coffee franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2026), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Scooter's Coffee discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it A.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Discloses 5-year average gross sales, customer tickets, detailed 2025 P&L by quartile, same-store growth, and new store first-month sales. Excludes non-traditional stores and affiliate outlets.
What a Scooter's Coffee franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 6% of gross sales | Item 6 — charged on revenue, not profit |
| Advertising fund | 2% of gross sales | Item 6 — brand marketing, spent at the franchisor's discretion |
| Total recurring fees | 8% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $658,898 – $1,345,750 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
6% royalty + 2% ad fee + $350/mo technology (15% annual increases). Multiple optional/conditional fees disclosed.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Scooter's Coffee system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 906 |
| Ceased operations | 24 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 2 |
| Transferred to new owners | 38 |
| Closure rate | 2.6% of outlets |
24 closures in 2025; 22 Kiosk closures 2025; low end stores show minimal EBITDA.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2026. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Scooter's Coffee worth it? — how it compares to 32 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 8% of sales | about average |
| Startup cost | from $658,898 | pricier than 87% of peers |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade A | more honest than 97% of coffee & donuts franchises |
| Closure rate | 2.6% of outlets | better than most (median 5.6%) |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 2 | more litigious than 88% of peers |
Benchmarked against every coffee & donuts franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Scooter's Coffee
The franchisor's framing: Discloses 5-year average gross sales, customer tickets, detailed 2025 P&L by quartile, sam… We reconstruct what an owner actually keeps, from their own FDD.
- Reconstructed owner P&L — net take-home after royalty, ad fund, rent, labor & debt
- Break-even timeline + cash-on-cash ROI
- Full fee stack + required-purchase markups
- Decoded real failure / closure rate
- How it ranks vs comparable franchises
- Validation-call playbook — the exact questions to ask
See a full sample report → · 30-day guarantee
Scooter's Coffee franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Scooter's Coffee franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $658,898–$1,345,750, including a $40,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Scooter's Coffee franchise owners make?
- Discloses 5-year average gross sales, customer tickets, detailed 2025 P&L by quartile, same-store growth, and new store first-month sales. Excludes non-traditional stores and affiliate outlets. We grade this disclosure A for honesty.
- What are the Scooter's Coffee franchise fees?
- Scooter's Coffee's FDD discloses a $40,000 initial franchise fee, a 6% royalty on gross sales, a 2% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 8% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. 6% royalty + 2% ad fee + $350/mo technology (15% annual increases). Multiple optional/conditional fees disclosed.
- What is the Scooter's Coffee franchise profit margin?
- Scooter's Coffee does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Discloses 5-year average gross sales, customer tickets, detailed 2025 P&L by quartile, same-store growth, and new store first-month sales. Excludes non-traditional stores and affiliate outlets. Recurring fees alone take about 8% of gross sales, before rent, labor, food or debt service. Margin has to be reconstructed from the disclosure, not read off it.
- What is the Scooter's Coffee franchise failure rate?
- 24 closures in 2025; 22 Kiosk closures 2025; low end stores show minimal EBITDA.
- How many Scooter's Coffee locations are there?
- Scooter's Coffee's FDD reports 906 total outlets, with 24 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 38 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Scooter's Coffee have complaints or lawsuits?
- Scooter's Coffee discloses 2 legal matters in Item 3 of its FDD. Item 3 covers the franchisor's litigation history, which is the closest thing to a public record of how it treats franchisees — read the case descriptions, not just the count.
- Is a Scooter's Coffee franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Scooter's Coffee scores A on disclosure honesty, carries about 8% of sales in ongoing fees, and discloses 2 legal matters. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Scooter's Coffee to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 35835-202604-09 (Clean FDD 2026). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Scooter's Coffee or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.