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.