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Dive Brief:

• Firehouse Subs has added a series of development incentives lasting through 2028 to speed up its franchisee development process, the company said in a Tuesday press release.
• The brand is offering a $75,000 incentive to franchisees who commit to building a new restaurant by 2028, and $100,000 per restaurant for operators who develop at least two.
• The development incentives could help speed up the chain’s development in the U.S. According to Firehouse’s franchise disclosure document, the brand’s net openings of U.S. franchised restaurants increased from 21 in 2023 to 36 in 2024 and 43 in 2025.

Dive Insight:

Firehouse is offering several other franchising incentives, according to the press release. These are intended to incentivize multi-unit operators to grow, push franchisees with strong operations to grow their store counts, and speed up development in target markets, like New York City, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Seattle, according to the press release.

The brand offers a “10 in 2 Incentive,” which includes $100,000 per opening for franchisees who develop at least 10 restaurants in 2027 and 2028, with a potential $500,000 bonus following the 10th opening. 

Firehouse is trying to nudge its strongest operators to expand through its “Grow A-Gain Incentive.” That incentive gives operators who have an “A” grade in Firehouse’s system and who have not opened a new store in at least five years, $150,000 per opening if they develop at least two units by the end of 2028.

Franchisees who build out at least three units in a list of target markets will receive $150,000 per opening and a 2% discount on the royalty rate lasting three years, per the press release.

The chain has about 1,250 franchised locations in the U.S., per its FDD. Its average unit volume for franchised restaurants was around $1 million. This contrasts favorably with Subway, which has a $0.5 million AUV, and is similar to Jersey Mike’s and Jimmy John’s, which have AUVs of $1.1 million and $1.0 million, respectively, according to Circana’s 2026 U.S. Definitive Restaurant Ranking.

Last year, it opened 104 net new restaurants across the U.S. and Canada, making it “the strongest net restaurant expansion year in more than a decade,” the company said. There also is a lot of whitespace opportunity remaining in those two countries. 

Firehouse is Restaurant Brands International’s smallest brand with 2025 total revenues of $232 million, compared to Burger King’s $1.5 billion in revenues. 

RBI CEO Joshua Kobza highlighted the chain’s unit economics on the company’s most recent earnings call, noting that same-store sales increased 1.1% year over year in 2025. 

“As a result of this growth, franchisee profitability grew to over $100,000,” Kobza said. 

Sam Siddiqui, RBI’s finance chief, said the chain’s emphasis on inline units development, rather than freestanding drive-thrus, require a different strategy and result in different economics from RBI’s other chains. Siddiqui said on the earnings call that the inline model results in payback times in the three- to three-and-a-half-year timespan.