The 2019 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 2019's rankings of the country's largest multi-brand operators, along with the brands they've chosen. Rank Brand Multi-Unit Franchisees Single-Unit Franchisees Total Franchisees 1 SUBWAY 3,999 3,720 7,719 2 MCDONALD’S 1,984 384 2,368 3 DUNKIN’ 1,023 493 1,516 4 THE UPS STORE 841 2,274 3,115 5 AFC 749 1,813 2,562 6 LITTLE CAESARS 708 84 792 7 HISSHO SUSHI 632 20 652 8 H&R BLOCK 621 744 1,365 9 LIBERTY TAX SERVICE 619 859 1,478 10 GREAT CLIPS 594 300 894 11 HEALTH MART PHARMACY 565 3,188 3,753 12 DOMINO’S PIZZA 533 259 792 13 ACE HARDWARE 531 2,536 3,067 14 FIREHOUSE SUBS 485 19 504 15 BASKIN-ROBBINS 460 779 1,239 16 BURGER KING 438 355 793 17 JIMMY JOHN’S 437 315 752 18 VISION SOURCE 436 2,194 2,630 19 DQ GRILL & CHILL 400 1,137 1,537 20 JACKSON HEWITT TAX SERVICE 394 160 554 21 CENTURY 21 350 736 1,086 22 TACO BELL 343 344 687 23 ANYTIME FITNESS 330 1,663 1,993 24 SPORT CLIPS 290 119 409 25 KFC 280 421 701 26 PAPA JOHN’S 264 410 674 27 EDIBLE ARRANGEMENTS 259 316 575 28 WENDY’S 253 143 396 29 JERSEY MIKE’S SUBS 250 209 459 30 CHICK-FIL-A 248 1,408 1,656 31 SUPERCUTS 245 142 387 32 PAPA MURPHY’S 237 251 488 33 COLDWELL BANKER 221 485 706 34 FANTASTIC SAMS 210 301 511 35 GNC 197 239 436 36 SONIC DRIVE-IN 187 269 456 36 ZAXBY’S 187 13 200 38 AUNTIE ANNE’S 175 314 489 39 SMOOTHIE KING 174 224 398 40 COLD STONE CREAMERY 173 409 582 41 HUNTINGTON LEARNING CENTER 171 31 202 41 DQ TREAT 171 795 966 43 PIZZA HUT 170 120 290 44 WINGSTOP 169 120 289 45 MIDAS 166 276 442 46 ARBY’S 164 276 440 46 EUROPEAN WAX CENTER 164 112 276 48 CULVER’S 155 274 429 49 KELLER WILLIAMS 154 723 877 50 POPEYES LOUISIANA KITCHEN 147 606 753 Top 50 Brands by Percentage of Multi-Unit Franchisees Rank Brand % Multi-Unit Franchisees Multi-Unit Franchisees Single-Unit Franchisees Total Franchisees 1 GATEWAY NEWSTANDS 100.00% 73 0 73 1 PANCHERO’S 100.

00% 28 0 28 3 FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES 98.25% 112 2 114 4 HISSHO SUSHI 96.93% 632 20 652 5 PANERA BREAD 96.

43% 27 1 28 6 FIREHOUSE SUBS 96.23% 485 19 504 7 CAPTAIN D’S 95.71% 67 3 70 8 SMARTSTYLE 94.

90% 93 5 98 9 ZAXBY’S 93.50% 187 13 200 10 JACK IN THE BOX 92.31% 96 8 104 11 LITTLE CAESARS 89.

39% 708 84 792 12 PALM BEACH TAN 89.29% 25 3 28 13 HWY 55 BURGERS SHAKES & FRIES 88.52% 54 7 61 14 MIRACLE-EAR 88.

34% 144 19 163 15 FRESHII 87.69% 57 8 65 16 HUNTINGTON LEARNING CENTER 84.65% 171 31 202 17 MCDONALD’S 83.

78% 1,984 384 2,368 18 DEL’S LEMONADE 83.33% 25 5 30 19 PASSPORT HEALTH 82.93% 34 7 41 20 DUTCH BROS.

81.69% 58 13 71 21 APPLEBEE’S 80.49% 33 8 41 22 FRONTIER ADJUSTERS 77.

18% 115 34 149 23 CARL’S JR. 74.38% 90 31 121 24 PLANET FITNESS 71.

89% 133 52 185 25 JACKSON HEWITT TAX SERVICE 71.12% 394 160 554 26 BOJANGLES’ 71.05% 54 22 76 27 SPORT CLIPS 70.

90% 290 119 409 28 GODFATHER’S PIZZA 70.86% 124 51 175 29 PENN STATION EAST COAST SUBS 70.24% 59 25 84 30 VALVOLINE INSTANT OIL CHANGE 69.

23% 54 24 78 31 PACLEASE 68.85% 42 19 61 32 BARBERITOS 67.74% 21 10 31 33 DUNKIN’ 67.

48% 1,023 493 1,516 34 DOMINO’S PIZZA 67.30% 533 259 792 35 GREAT CLIPS 66.44% 594 300 894 36 SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY 66.

42% 89 45 134 37 HARDEE’S 65.63% 84 44 128 38 COST CUTTERS FAMILY HAIR SALON 64.29% 45 25 70 39 WENDY’S 63.

89% 253 143 396 40 SUPERCUTS 63.31% 245 142 387 41 ARMSTRONG MCCALL 62.50% 40 24 64 42 FREEDOM BOAT CLUB 62.

22% 28 17 45 43 AVIS 61.90% 26 16 42 44 TWO MEN AND A TRUCK 60.58% 83 54 137 45 RALLY’S 60.

53% 23 15 38 46 EUROPEAN WAX CENTER 59.42% 164 112 276 47 RNR TIRE EXPRESS 59.26% 16 11 27 48 MICHELIN COMMERCIAL SERVICE NETWORK 59.

09% 26 18 44 49 PIEOLOGY 58.82% 20 14 34 50 PIZZA HUT 58.62% 170 120 290 SOURCE: FRANdata.