Which Wich Franchise Cost: No Territory Protection

Which Wich publishes its numbers clearly and states the basis for its fees, which puts it ahead of much of this category. It also states something most buyers never think to ask about, and which changes what you are actually buying: it does not offer territory protections.

Everything below comes from its own franchising site, verified August 2, 2026. Every figure is a reported number to confirm in the current Franchise Disclosure Document, and none of it is an earnings figure.

Territory protection is the thing to understand first

Most prospective franchisees assume a protected territory is part of what they are buying: a radius, or a population count, inside which the franchisor will not open another of its own units. Many franchise agreements do grant one. Which Wich states that it does not.

That is a legitimate business model, and it is not hidden. It also has real consequences worth thinking through before the money:

• The franchisor may open, or licence someone else to open, another Which Wich near yours.
• Your site selection carries more of the risk, because a good location can attract a second unit rather than protect you from one.
• The value of the business you build depends more on operating performance and less on holding a defended patch.

Territory rights live in FDD Item 12, and this is exactly the sort of term that item exists to surface. Our Item 12 guide covers what to look for. If you take one thing from this page, take the habit of reading Item 12 before Item 7: a protected territory and an unprotected one are different products at the same price.

The published numbers

The franchise fee is a flat $30,000, with no format tiering, and its investment page states a total of $253,500 to $822,250 based on its 2024 FDD.

That floor is genuinely low for this category. Firehouse Subs’ cheapest format starts at $379,650, and Charleys’ entry looks lower until its three-licence minimum is applied. Which Wich has no stated minimum-unit requirement, so its published floor is a floor a single buyer can actually approach.

Ongoing fees are 6 percent royalty on gross sales plus a 3 percent brand development fund, also on gross sales, for a combined 9 percent. Both state their basis, which is worth crediting. Several brands in this wave publish a bare percentage with no base: Wings Etc gives “5%” with no basis, Bojangles publishes only its reduced veteran schedule, Zaxby’s publishes no royalty at all.

Nine percent sits mid-category, above Freddy’s 6 percent and below Firehouse Subs’ 11.

The market map is city-level

Which Wich publishes availability by city rather than by state, marking markets available or sold out individually. Its Alabama entry, for instance, shows Birmingham-Hoover, Montgomery-Selma and Mobile as available while Auburn-Opelika, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa and Dothan are sold out.

That granularity is more useful than a state-level map, and worth pairing with the territory point above. “Sold out” here means the market has been allocated for development, which is a different thing from a protected radius around an individual restaurant. A market can be closed to new franchisees while individual operators inside it still have no protection from each other.

One conflict on its own site

Source	Liquidity	Net worth
Its FAQ page	$150,000	$250,000
Its initial-investment page	$150,000	$500,000

The liquidity figure agrees. The net-worth figure differs by a factor of two, and both pages are live.

We are not choosing. A buyer with $300,000 net worth qualifies under one page and not the other, which is exactly the range this brand’s low investment floor would attract. Ask which figure the current FDD carries before assuming either.

A smaller note on the veteran discount: Which Wich’s own FAQ states 10 percent off the initial franchise fee, worth $3,000 here. A 25 percent figure appears on third-party sites and we could not reproduce it on any Which Wich page, so it is not repeated. Our veteran discount guide compares the range across brands, which is wider than most buyers expect.

Questions to ask before you rely on any figure

• What territory rights, if any, does the franchise agreement grant, and what does Item 12 say the franchisor may do near my restaurant?
• Which net-worth figure is current, $250,000 or $500,000?
• Is my specific city available, and what does “sold out” mean for a market where units already operate?
• Is the 3 percent brand development fund the entire marketing obligation, or is there a local spend requirement on top?
• What are the initial term and renewal conditions? Neither is published on the site.
• Are the published figures still from the 2024 FDD, or has a newer one been issued?
• Will a franchise attorney and an accountant review the full FDD with me before I commit?