Great American Cookies franchise

2025 filing · April 30, 2025GrowingShares sales figures

Great American Cookies at a glance

A cookie shop baking cookie cakes, cookies and brownies, often in malls. At the end of 2024 there were 395 Great American Cookies locations in the US, all franchised.

The business

Industry: Bakery; Also listed in fast food and food
Franchisor: GAC Franchising, LLC; The company that sells the franchises
Parent company: FAT Brands; Owns 9 brands here
Who runs it: Semi-absentee; Owner doesn't have to take part; a trained manager runs it
Franchisor based in: Beverly Hills, California

What you pay

Cost to open: $341K–$463K; Traditional restaurant
Franchise fee: $25,000; Paid once, when you sign
Royalty: 6%; 6% of net sales, paid weekly
Brand fund: Yes; 2% of net sales in malls and shopping centers, 3% elsewhere
Renewal fee: See terms; 40% of then-current initial fee
Agreement length: 15 years
Franchisor financing: None offered
SBA Franchise Directory: Not listed; Lenders check this list before an SBA loan

Where it is

US locations, 2024: 395; Franchised and company-owned
Franchised: 395
Company-owned: 0
Change in 3 years: +22; Franchised locations, 2022–2024
States: 32; Most in Texas, Georgia and Louisiana

Support and records

Shares sales figures: Yes; $506K average per location
Initial training: 39.5 hours; 37 hours in class and 2.5 on the job
SBA loans approved: 92; 1995–2026
Lawsuits disclosed: Yes
Bankruptcy disclosed: Yes; The franchisor or a predecessor
Latest filing: Apr 30, 2025; 2025 filing

From GAC Franchising, LLC’s 2025 filing; SBA status from the SBA Franchise Directory, October 28, 2026.

Estimate your costs Model the payback

Where it ranks

Great American Cookies among all franchises with the same figure.

Figure	Great American Cookies	Among all franchises
Cost to open, midpointHalfway between the low and high estimate	$401,575	Costs more than 54% of franchises
Franchise feePaid once, when you sign	$25,000	Lower than 82% of franchises
RoyaltyShare of sales paid to the franchisor	6%	Higher than 35% of brands with a set rate
US locationsFranchised and company-owned	395	More than 92% of franchises
Sales per locationYearly, as the brand reports it	$506,381	Lower than 72% of brands that share sales figures
Sales against cost to openYearly sales over the cost midpoint	1.3×	Lower than 65% of brands that share sales figures

How much a Great American Cookies franchise costs

Opening Traditional restaurant costs an estimated $340,500 to $462,650. That covers the franchise fee and everything else needed to open, through the first months of working capital.

Source: GAC Franchising, LLC, 2025 filing, page 37

Great American Cookies franchise fee

The franchise fee is $25,000. You pay it when you sign the franchise agreement.

Source: GAC Franchising, LLC, 2025 filing, page 23

Royalty and ongoing fees

Royalty	6% of net sales, paid weekly.
Brand or marketing fund	2% of net sales in malls and shopping centers, 3% elsewhere.
Transfer	$15,000
Renewal Fee	40% of then-current initial fee
Local Advertising	Currently 2% of total net sales

The typical franchise royalty is 6% of sales, plus 2% for marketing. See franchise fees and royalties to compare.

Source: GAC Franchising, LLC, 2025 filing, page 25

Other fees as filed, from pages 26–29. The filing lists every fee, including late fees and audit costs.

Sales and earnings

Shares figures Great American Cookies publishes sales or earnings figures for its locations. The full tables, with notes on which locations are counted, are in its filing.

Average net sales: $506,381
Median net sales: $447,601

Yearly figures for 2024, covering stand-alone (not co-branded) franchised U.S. stores open all 12 months of 2024 (117 locations). The average is about 1.3 times the midpoint of the cost to open.

Sales are what a location takes in before rent, payroll, royalties and other costs, not what its owner keeps.

Source: GAC Franchising, LLC, 2025 filing, pages 87–93

SBA loans to Great American Cookies franchisees

Lenders approved 92 SBA 7(a) loans for Great American Cookies franchisees from 1995 to 2026, $27.8M in all. Of the 66 that have ended, 63 were paid in full and 3 were charged off (4.5%). The other 26 haven’t ended yet.

A charged-off loan is one written off as uncollectible. See SBA franchise loans for how 7(a) and 504 loans work.

Source: SBA 7(a) and 504 loan data, as of September 30, 2026

Growth and closures

Share of franchised locations, 2024 / 2022–2024. Typical means the median: half of brands are above it, half below.

Measure	Great American Cookies	Typical bakery brand	Typical franchise
GrowthNet change in franchised locations	−1.3% / +5.9%	+3.3% / +5.9%	+1.2% / +10%
ClosuresTerminated, not renewed or stopped operating	5.8% / 19%	3.2% / 11%	3.9% / 16%
Bought backLocations the franchisor took back	0% / 0%	0% / 0%	0% / 0%

Typical bakery brand is the median of the 33 brands in bakery franchises with three years of counts.

How Great American Cookies compares

Of the 112 bakery franchises on this site, Great American Cookies is the 56th cheapest to open and the 10th largest by number of locations.

Figure	Great American Cookies	Typical bakery brand	Typical franchise
Cost to open, low end	$341K	$341K	$222K
Cost to open, high end	$463K	$720K	$477K
Franchise fee	$25K	$40K	$40K
Royalty	6%	6%	6%
Sales per location	$506K	$792K	$794K
US locations	395	16	21
Shares earnings figures	Yes	74 of 112	2,147 of 3,352

Typical is the median across the 112 brands in bakery franchises; typical franchise, across every brand here.

Locations opened and closed

92 opened

70 closed or left

Franchised locations, last 3 years

2022

28 opened23 closed or left

378 (+5)

2023

46 opened24 closed or left

400 (+22)

2024

18 opened23 closed or left

395 (−5)

Year	Franchised	Opened	Closed
2022	378 (+5)	+28	−23
2023	400 (+22)	+46	−24
2024	395 (−5)	+18	−23

Closed or left counts terminations, non-renewals, locations bought back by the franchisor and locations that stopped operating.

See which brands grew most in the fastest-growing franchises rankings.

More in the guides: fast food franchise costs and franchise failure rates.

Source: GAC Franchising, LLC, 2025 filing, page 95

Source filing (2025, PDF)

Where Great American Cookies locations are

At the end of 2024, Great American Cookies had franchised locations in 32 states. The most are in Texas, Georgia and Louisiana.

Texas146
Georgia42
Louisiana30
Tennessee24
Alabama20
Florida20

State	Franchised
Texas	146
Georgia	42
Louisiana	30
Tennessee	24
Alabama	20
Florida	20
Ohio	14
South Carolina	13
Mississippi	10
Oklahoma	10

All 32 states

Kentucky	9
Missouri	8
Arkansas	6
West Virginia	6
North Carolina	5
California	4
New York	4
Virginia	4
Pennsylvania	3
Indiana	2
Kansas	2
Minnesota	2
Nevada	2
Alaska	1
Arizona	1
Illinois	1
Iowa	1
Michigan	1
New Jersey	1
New Mexico	1
Oregon	1
Wisconsin	1

Source: GAC Franchising, LLC, 2025 filing, page 97

Who owns Great American Cookies?

Great American Cookies franchises are sold by GAC Franchising, LLC. It is a subsidiary of GAC Franchise Brands, LLC.

Great American Cookies is one of the 9 FAT Brands franchises here. FAT Brands is a public company whose shares were listed on Nasdaq. It and its affiliate Twin Hospitality filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2026 to restructure their debt.

From GAC Franchising, LLC’s 2025 filing, page 10; FAT Brands.

Lawsuits and bankruptcy

Lawsuits and regulatory actions	Yes. The filing describes past or pending cases involving the franchisor, its affiliates or its executives on pages 19–22.
Bankruptcy	The franchisor, its parent FAT Brands and their affiliates filed for Chapter 11 in January 2026.

Franchisors must disclose lawsuits and bankruptcies involving the company, its parents and affiliates, and its executives. Many cases are routine disputes with franchisees over fees or contracts; read the descriptions in the filing and ask current owners about anything that worries you.

Source: GAC Franchising, LLC, 2025 filing, litigation on pages 19–22, bankruptcy on page 22