Franchise Deep Dive: Arby's Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data

Arby’s, a 3,400+ unit roast beef sandwich franchise under Inspire Brands, offers flexible restaurant models, a robust support system, and proven profitability for franchisees.

Company history

Arby’s, the 3,400-plus-unit sandwich franchise under the Inspire Brands umbrella, is headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Arby’s was founded in Boardman, Ohio, by the Forrest brothers and Leroy Raffel in 1964. Back then, the fast-food burger business was booming, and the founders wanted to offer a tasty and quick-serve alternative: roast beef. Today, the Arby's menu includes its famous roast beef, Market Fresh sandwiches, wraps and salads, as well as other one-of-a-kind items such as curly fries and Jamocha shakes.

As of November 2024, Arby’s operates 3,398 restaurants across the U.S. Internationally, the chain has expanded into several countries, including Canda, Turkey and South Korea. Overall, Arby’s maintains more than 3,400 restaurants worldwide.

Arby’s has been franchising since 1965. Roark Capital Group acquired 81.5% of Arby’s Restaurant Group in 2011, forming the major share of ownership with The Wendy’s Company having a stake of 18.5% in Arby’s. In 2018, ARG took over the ownership of Buffalo Wild Wings.

Today, Arby’s is part of parent company Inspire Brands, a global, multi-brand restaurant company unlike any other. They are home to five leading restaurant brands and more than 11,100 locations globally.

Franchise model options

For the past 65 years, Arby’s has been perfecting its systems so that each franchisee can take advantage of easy buying, storage, training and management processes. Arby's restaurants are now constructed in a traditional or non-traditional design, highlighting prominent architectural features. The flexible, contemporary layout allows the brand to adapt restaurants to almost any prime commercial site. The chain also offers a range of prototypes and investment options to accommodate specific business needs.

• Traditional: Full-menu, limited service Arby’s restaurants, which are either freestanding, convenience stores, travel plazas, truck stops, travel plaza/convenience store combos, end cap and inline locations and malls. The vast majority of these include a drive-thru window.

• Non-Traditional: Limited menu, limited size and reduced service restaurants, which generally occupy a smaller retail space, offer no or very limited seating and may cater to a captive audience, may have a limited menu and may possibly feature reduced services, labor, storage and different hours of operation. Non-traditional Arby’s restaurant categories include but are not limited to locations in airports, military bases, hospitals, toll plazas, stadiums, theme/amusement parks and arenas which have no seating or shared seating, casinos, colleges, universities and other institutional-type facilities which have common area seating.

Investment and costs

The initial investment necessary to open an Arby’s franchise ranges from $861,950 to $2,451,000 for a traditional restaurant and $644,950 to $1,374,000 for a non-traditional restaurant.

• Paul Brown — Chief Executive Officer

• Luigi Beccarelli — Chief Operating Officer

• Daniel Lynn — Chief Commercial and Restaurant Officer

• Haddon Bennett — Chief Information Security Officer

• Christian Charnaux — Chief Growth Officer

• Christopher Held — Chief Supply Officer

• Jason Maceda — Chief Development Officer

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained on this site constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer to buy or sell any franchises, securities, or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the franchise and/or securities laws of such jurisdiction.

All content in this article is information of a general nature and does not address the detailed circumstances of any particular individual or entity. Nothing in the article constitutes professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information in the email constitute a comprehensive or complete statement of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto. You alone assume the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information or other content in this article before making any decisions based on such information or other content.