Does Belocal charge an initial franchise fee for franchises offered after the Issuance Date of the disclosure document that facilitate the publishing of a new publication?
Belocal Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
The initial franchise fee for a Franchised Business is $735. However, we are waiving the initial franchise fee for franchises offered or entered into on or after the Issuance Date of this disclosure document that facilitate the publishing of a new publication, unless this disclosure document is amended to reflect otherwise.
We reserve the right to charge the initial franchise fee of $735 if the franchise is for the management of a publication that was formerly a Bridge Publication.
If we were to charge a franchise fee, the fee would be non-refundable and due in a lump sum. Last year, we uniformly waived the initial franchise fee for both new publications and Bridge Publications.
Source: Item 5 — INITIAL FEES (FDD pages 13–14)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Belocal's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the initial franchise fee is generally $735 for a Franchised Business. However, Belocal is waiving this initial franchise fee for franchises offered or entered into on or after the Issuance Date of the 2025 disclosure document, specifically for those that facilitate the publishing of a new publication. This waiver is in effect unless the disclosure document is amended to reflect otherwise.
Belocal retains the right to charge the initial franchise fee of $735 if the franchise involves managing a publication that was previously a Bridge Publication. Last year, Belocal uniformly waived the initial franchise fee for both new publications and Bridge Publications.
For a prospective Belocal franchisee, this means that if you are starting a new publication under the Belocal franchise system after the issuance date of the 2025 FDD, you will likely not have to pay the initial franchise fee of $735. However, this is contingent on the franchise agreement not being amended to remove this waiver and does not apply to the management of a publication that was formerly a Bridge Publication.