Franchise Facts Report → brands → Cousins Maine Lobster
Cousins Maine Lobster franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk Significant turnover Item 19 disclosed
Cousins Maine Lobster is a food and beverage franchise with an investment range of $266,600 to $965,800.
Everything below is free, read straight off Cousins Maine Lobster's registered filing. The $99 report is the part a single FDD can't give you: the earnings figures themselves, and where every number lands against food & beverage peers.
The numbers above tell you what Cousins Maine Lobster discloses. The report tells you whether that's good:
- The earnings figures themselves — the average unit revenue Cousins Maine Lobster puts on paper in Item 19, and what it does and doesn't include.
- Where every number ranks — investment, fees, royalty, earnings and churn against food & beverage median and quartile. This is the part no single FDD, and no AI reading one, can produce.
- What's driving the medium risk read — the specific figures behind it, not the label.
- The litigation, split properly — each case, and which ones franchisees brought against the franchisor rather than the reverse.
- The questions to ask before you sign — drawn from what Cousins Maine Lobster's own filing leaves open, in the words to use on the call.
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Compare 3 brands — $249 See a sample reportFigures above are as disclosed in Cousins Maine Lobster's most recent FDD (registered 2026). Source: Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration · filing 641351 — check it yourself. The Item 19 figures, where each number ranks against peers, and the litigation & churn detail are in the full report.
How much does a Cousins Maine Lobster franchise make?
Cousins Maine Lobster 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 average revenue Cousins Maine Lobster reports, what that figure does and doesn't include, and where it ranks against food & beverage peers are in the full report. See every food & beverage brand that discloses earnings in the Food & beverage franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.
Cousins Maine Lobster 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 Cousins Maine Lobster's 6% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a Cousins Maine Lobster franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "Cousins Maine Lobster franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure. The full report sets Cousins Maine Lobster's disclosed revenue against its total ongoing fee load, so you can see what that revenue has to cover before anything reaches you.
Cousins Maine Lobster lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
Cousins Maine Lobster'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.
Cousins Maine Lobster closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Cousins Maine Lobster 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 Cousins Maine Lobster's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a food & beverage 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. Cousins Maine Lobster's latest tables show significant franchisee turnover. The actual closure and termination counts, and how Cousins Maine Lobster's churn ranks against food & beverage peers, are in the full report.
The Item 19 earnings figures, every number ranked against food & beverage peers, and the litigation and churn detail — delivered instantly, yours to keep.
Not useful? Reply to your delivery email within 14 days for a refund — no forms, no argument.
Who owns Cousins Maine Lobster?
Cousins Maine Lobster's franchise is offered by CML Storefront LLC — 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.
Food & beverage franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing Cousins Maine Lobster 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.
Cousins Maine Lobster franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Cousins Maine Lobster — who is the franchisor?
Cousins Maine Lobster's most recently filed FDD (2026) names CML Storefront LLC 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 Cousins Maine Lobster franchise cost?
Cousins Maine Lobster's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $266,600 – $965,800, with an initial franchise fee of $40,000 and a 6% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. The full report breaks down every fee line and benchmarks it against food & beverage peers.
How much profit does a Cousins Maine Lobster franchise make?
Cousins Maine Lobster discloses unit earnings in Item 19, but that figure is revenue — sales — not profit. Royalties (6% of gross for Cousins Maine Lobster), the ad fund, rent, payroll and supplies all come out of it, and no FDD discloses what an owner nets. Any Cousins Maine Lobster franchise profit number quoted elsewhere is an estimate. The full report shows the disclosed revenue against the full ongoing fee load it has to cover.
Does Cousins Maine Lobster disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
Yes — Cousins Maine Lobster reports unit-level earnings in Item 19. The full report shows the actual revenue figures and how they rank against food & beverage peers.
Are there lawsuits against Cousins Maine Lobster?
No — Cousins Maine Lobster'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 Cousins Maine Lobster a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from Cousins Maine Lobster's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against food & beverage peers, which is what the full report is for. Our read on this filing is medium risk, stated free above. For $99 you get the figures driving that read, the actual Item 19 earnings (disclosed in this FDD), where every figure ranks against peers, and the specific questions to ask the franchisor before you sign.
A Cousins Maine Lobster franchise is a $266,600 – $965,800 decision you make once, on a ten-year agreement, usually with a personal guarantee behind it. For $99 you get an independent read of the document that decides it: the actual Item 19 earnings, every figure ranked against food & beverage peers, the litigation split into franchisee and corporate matters, the churn behind the outlet count — and the questions to put to the franchisor before you sign. If it tells you nothing new, reply within 14 days and we'll refund it.
Not useful? Reply to your delivery email within 14 days for a refund — no forms, no argument.
Compare 3 brands — $249Get a free email when something changes on Cousins Maine Lobster or food & beverage: 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 registries every report is built on.