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, with where the numbers land against food & beverage peers. Weighing Cousins Maine Lobster against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures 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. See every other Wisconsin-registered franchise.
Considering Cousins Maine Lobster? 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. Cousins Maine Lobster will be on it if it fits.
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 headline figure is $1,299,825 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 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. On $1,299,825 of revenue, a 6% royalty alone is about $77,990 a year before any other cost.
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. Its franchised-outlet closure rate — closures, terminations and non-renewals against outlets — is 50%, against a food & beverage median of 3.3% — worse than the category. Net franchised outlets moved -2 to 2 in the latest reported year.
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. Against food & beverage peers it sits in the bottom quartile (median $379,725).
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 headline figure Cousins Maine Lobster discloses is $1,299,825 in average unit revenue.
Does Cousins Maine Lobster disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
Yes — Cousins Maine Lobster reports unit-level earnings in Item 19. The headline figure is $1,299,825 in average unit revenue, as the franchisor states it.
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 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 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 state registries this page is built on.