Scooter's vs 7 Brew Franchise: Which Drive-Thru Fits You

Franchise fee and total investment: the real starting number

The franchise fee is only part of the opening investment. 7 Brew’s May 11, 2026 FDD, Item 5, lists $35,000 for the first store and $25,000 for each later store. New franchisees must commit to at least ten stores. The minimum $125,000 development fee includes the first $35,000 franchise fee plus $10,000 for each of nine additional stores; those additional development payments do not offset later $25,000 franchise fees.

Its Item 7 range, $940,500-$2,283,500, covers the initial store plus minimum ten-store development rights, not construction of all ten stores. The May 28, 2025 FDD instead listed $894,000-$2,178,500 with a five-store commitment and a $75,000 minimum development fee. Different commitments make this an unsuitable like-for-like construction-cost comparison.

Scooter’s Coffee franchise cost and what its FDD says about sales

Per its April 3, 2026 FDD, Scooter’s Item 5 franchise fee is $40,000, plus a separate $20,000 Initial Opening Support Fee. Item 6 charges 6% of Net Sales in royalties and currently 2% of Net Sales for the national marketing and advertising contribution, with a 4% cap. Item 7 estimates $1,163,650-$1,345,750 for a kiosk and $658,898-$1,068,525 for an end cap. The opening support fee is included in those Item 7 totals, not an extra amount to add again.

Item 19 covers franchised kiosk and end cap stores, excluding financial results for nontraditional stores, coffeehouses and affiliate-owned stores. Section A reports annual gross sales for 2021-2025; the latest measurement period is the full year ended December 31, 2025. Participating stores are defined as open and operating for that entire year. The FDD excludes stores that permanently closed during the measurement period and stores that did not report the required financial data.

For 2025, Section A prints kiosk average gross sales of “$999,869”, median gross sales of “$966,739”, and “289 / 47%” attaining or exceeding the average. For end caps, it prints average gross sales of “$1,082,458”, median gross sales of “$1,076,758”, and “22 / 49%” attaining or exceeding the average. Those are gross sales, not owner profit or earnings. Gross Sales here means Net Sales plus Discounts, as defined in the FDD.

Store counts differ by table: the participation tables list 45 participating end cap stores for 2025 out of 62 at year end, and Section C identifies 697 kiosks operating the full year, excludes 76 without complete cost and expense data, and reports 621 kiosks with average gross sales of “998,869”. That is a separate reporting group and table, not a replacement for Section A’s printed average or participation count.

Item 19 also discloses average customer tickets, sales/expense/earnings tables for reporting subsets, same-store net sales and first-full-month gross sales for new stores. Those additional tables do not turn the gross sales quoted above into owner take-home pay. Its own caveat states: “Some outlets have sold/earned these amounts. Your individual results may differ. There is no assurance you will sell/earn as much.” It also states: “The financial performance figures do not reflect all of the costs of sales, operating expenses, or other costs or expenses that must be deducted from net revenue or net sales figures to obtain your net income or profit.”

Royalty and ongoing fees: flat rate versus volume tier

Scooter’s 6% royalty uses Net Sales. 7 Brew’s May 11, 2026 FDD, Item 6, uses weekly Gross Sales, with the rate determined by the preceding week’s Gross Sales: 4.5% below $20,000, 5.5% from $20,000 to $25,000, and 7% above $25,000. These are contractual fee thresholds, not sales forecasts. Different sales definitions mean the percentages alone do not establish which brand costs less to operate.

7 Brew’s brand fund is 2% of weekly Gross Sales, both the current rate and cap. Its separate technology fee is currently 0.25% of weekly Gross Sales, also its cap. Scooter’s national contribution is currently 2% of Net Sales, with a 4% cap and 60 days’ written notice for an increase. Local advertising is currently none, capped at 2%; regional co-op is currently none, capped at 3%. Item 6’s co-op row states a 5% maximum advertising expense, while Note 3 states a 6% combined maximum; keep the national fund’s separate 4% cap distinct.

Scooter’s royalty plus current national contribution totals 8% of Net Sales before other obligations. 7 Brew’s royalty plus brand fund totals 6.5%-9% of Gross Sales before technology and other fees. The franchise royalty calculator can apply rates to your own assumptions; it does not supply sales forecasts.

Footprint and format: two versions of small

Scooter’s April 3, 2026 FDD, Items 1 and 7, describes a 650-700-square-foot kiosk, generally without seating and serving through drive-up windows. Its 800-1,400-square-foot end cap typically occupies a strip-center end space with indoor ordering and a drive-up window. These are different site formats, not interchangeable construction budgets.

7 Brew’s May 11, 2026 FDD, Item 7, describes a 510-square-foot modular building on a typical 8,000-50,000-square-foot lot. Springfield Daily Citizen reported on August 16, 2024 that Creative Modular Construction makes the roughly 500-square-foot buildings in three parts: main body, top section and canopy. It reported that most of the building could be assembled on site in a day, followed by about a week of site work. That report describes assembly, not the entire permitting and opening schedule.

For another format comparison, see Biggby vs Scooter’s franchise.

For a broader comparison using a consistent outlet-growth measure, see the fastest-growing coffee chains and franchises guide.

Growth and development deals: dated evidence, not application access

Scooter’s February 26, 2026 announcement described 900 stores across 32 states, 83 stores added in 2025 and 10% growth, following 16% growth in 2024. This is a separately dated brand announcement; Item 20 reports 906 total outlets at December 31, 2025. Daily Coffee News reported on April 21, 2026 that Boddie-Noell Enterprises signed a 31-location Scooter’s agreement for North Carolina and Virginia. An agreement is not a count of opened stores.

Restaurant Dive reported 777 7 Brew units on June 12, 2026 and a pace toward 1,000 by year-end, with 437 franchised openings projected for 2026. These were dated counts and projections, not confirmation that all projected stores opened. Franchise Times reported a 70-unit agreement for the greater Washington, D.C. market with a Jersey Mike’s and Wingstop franchisee in March 2025, and a 160-unit Flynn Group agreement in its Fast and Serious article published December 30, 2025 and updated January 5, 2026.

These development deals do not override the October 14, 2026 application-status quotes above. Scooter’s development areas page lists single-unit and multi-unit options; its cost page states $250,000 liquid capital and $500,000 net worth requirements. Those qualifications do not guarantee approval or an available territory.

Territory and Item 19: what each brand actually discloses

Scooter’s April 3, 2026 FDD, Item 12, states: “You will not receive an exclusive territory.” Its search area is non-exclusive. 7 Brew’s May 11, 2026 FDD also provides no exclusive territory, but defines a 1.5- or 2-mile Area of Protection for traditional stores depending on the metropolitan area. Nontraditional stores without a drive-thru window are not restricted by that protection. Read the actual location and protection terms before treating either arrangement as a protected market.

7 Brew’s May 11, 2026 FDD, Item 19, discloses historical average, median and high/low annual Total Sales for December 30, 2024 through December 28, 2025. It covers 320 stores open throughout that fiscal year, with separate figures for 297 franchised stores and 23 company stores. For the 297 franchised stores, average annual Total Sales were $2,646,063, median Total Sales were $2,550,624, and 134 stores (45.1%) exceeded the average. The high was $6,366,527 and the low was $836,418. Stores opened during the year are excluded; ownership changes are classified as described in Item 19’s footnote 1.

These are sales, not owner earnings or profit, which this Item 19 does not disclose. The FDD states: “The actual average annual Total Sales numbers reported above for the 2025 Fiscal Year do not reflect the costs of sales, operating expenses, or other costs or expenses that must be deducted from the Total Sales figures to obtain your net income or profit.” Its caveat is: “Some 7 BREW Stores have sold this amount. Your individual results may differ. There is no assurance that you will sell as much.”

Scooter’s Gross Sales and 7 Brew’s Total Sales use different definitions and store groups. Neither average is a forecast for a proposed site. Use the coffee franchise Item 19 guide to compare periods, exclusions, denominators and expenses before using either disclosure in a model.

Which buyer fits which brand

For a buyer seeking one location, Scooter’s published single-unit option and lower end cap investment floor make it the relevant inquiry path in this matchup as checked October 14, 2026. A kiosk has a higher investment range than its end cap, so choose the format before setting a budget.

7 Brew’s ten-store development requirement makes its FDD a different capital commitment, and its support page’s dated application closure still controls the practical shortlist. Its disclosed sales and development deals do not establish owner returns or an available opportunity.

Compare additional brands in the coffee franchise comparison and use the coffee franchise cost guide to separate opening costs from ongoing fees.