Franchise Facts Report → brands → HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk Shrinking network Item 19 disclosed
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® offers a retail franchise opportunity in the hobby sector with an initial investment ranging from $327,100 to $458,000.
Everything below is free, read straight off HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s registered filing, with where the numbers land against retail peers. Weighing HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s most recent FDD (registered 2026). Source: Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration · filing 641667 — check it yourself. See every other Wisconsin-registered franchise.
Considering HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®? See what else fits your budget
Tell us your budget and the industries you're open to. We'll match you with 5–10 franchises whose own FDDs fit — ranked by earnings disclosure, growth and closure rate — and email you the list. HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® will be on it if it fits.
How much does a HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® franchise make?
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® is one of the franchisors that answers this on the record: its most recent FDD makes an Item 19 financial performance representation — actual unit earnings figures, disclosed by the franchisor itself. The headline figure is $1,627,084 in average unit revenue — read it alongside what Item 19 says about which units it covers (often only mature or top-performing locations). See every retail brand that discloses earnings in the Retail franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® franchise profit vs. revenue
Revenue is not profit. An Item 19 almost always reports sales — what a location takes in — not what an owner keeps. Out of that number come HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s 4.75% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure. On $1,627,084 of revenue, a 4.75% royalty alone is about $77,286 a year before any other cost.
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026) discloses no litigation in Item 3. That is a real signal rather than a gap: the FTC Franchise Rule requires a franchisor to disclose material litigation involving itself, its predecessors, parents, affiliates and management, so an empty Item 3 in a current filing means there was nothing it was required to report. It is worth reading alongside the churn numbers — a system can have a clean Item 3 and still be losing franchisees, which is what Item 20 shows.
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® closures & failure rate
Before you sign, HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a retail of this kind.
The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s latest tables show a shrinking franchised network — more units left than opened. Its franchised-outlet closure rate — closures, terminations and non-renewals against outlets — is 9.6%, against a retail median of 4.3% — worse than the category. Net franchised outlets moved -9 to 85 in the latest reported year.
Who owns HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®?
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s franchise is offered by Hobby Town Unlimited, Inc. — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2026), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at WI DFI; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.
Retail franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® franchise — frequently asked
Who owns HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® — who is the franchisor?
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s most recently filed FDD (2026) names Hobby Town Unlimited, Inc. as the franchisor — the entity you would actually sign the franchise agreement with, as stated on the disclosure document itself. A registry filing names the franchisor, not necessarily its ultimate parent company.
How much does a HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® franchise cost?
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $327,100 – $458,000, with an initial franchise fee of $49,500 and a 4.75% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. Against retail peers it sits in the lower quartile (median $319,750).
How much profit does a HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® franchise make?
HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® discloses unit earnings in Item 19, but that figure is revenue — sales — not profit. Royalties (4.75% of gross for HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®), the ad fund, rent, payroll and supplies all come out of it, and no FDD discloses what an owner nets. Any HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® franchise profit number quoted elsewhere is an estimate. The headline figure HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® discloses is $1,627,084 in average unit revenue.
Does HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
Yes — HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® reports unit-level earnings in Item 19. The headline figure is $1,627,084 in average unit revenue, as the franchisor states it.
Are there lawsuits against HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®?
No — HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s most recently filed FDD (2026) discloses no litigation in Item 3. Franchisors must disclose material litigation involving themselves, their predecessors, parents, affiliates and management, so an empty Item 3 is a genuine signal rather than an omission.
Is HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA®'s numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against retail peers and against your own budget. Our read on this filing is medium risk. Every figure behind that read is on this page for free. If you're comparing options, the free shortlist on this page matches you with 5–10 franchises that fit your budget and industry.
Get a free email when something changes on HobbyTown®/HobbyTown USA® or retail: a new FDD registration, a new lawsuit, an outlet count that shifts, or Item 19 earnings going from undisclosed to disclosed. Pulled straight from the same state registries this page is built on.