As a Cicis franchisee, am I protected from competition from other franchisees, company-owned outlets, or other distribution channels controlled by Cicis?
Cicis Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
le of business opportunities or seller-assisted marketing plans.
ITEM 12 TERRITORY
You will not receive an exclusive territory either under the Franchise Agreement or under the Area Development Agreement. You may face competition from other franchisees, from outlets that we own, or from other channels of distribution or competitive brands that we control.
Franchise Agreement
The Franchise Agreement gives you the right to operate your Cicis Restaurant at a single location that you select and we accept. You must select your site from within a geographic area that we call your Designated Area and that is described in the Franchise Agreement. As long as you are in compliance with the Franchise Agreement, we will not, during the term of your Franchise Agreement, operate or grant others the right to operate any other Restaurant within a specified geographic area described in the Franchise Agreement (the "Protected Area"). We determine the size of the Protected Area based on various market and economic factors, such as an evaluation of market demographics, the market penetration of similar businesses, the availability of appropriate sites, and the growth trends in the market. The Protected Area generally consists of a portion of a city, county or designated market area.
The Franchise Agreement does not permit you to relocate your Cicis Restaurant. If, at any time during the term of the Franchise Agreement, you request us to consider a relocation, we will do so, but we will not be required to apply any particular standards or guidelines to our consideration. Our decision on whether to grant your request will be made in our sole discretion. You have no right of first refusal or similar rights to acquire additional franchises or establish additional Restaurants.
Other Restaurants, food aggregators, and/or third-party delivery service providers may deliver to customers located in your Protected Area and vice-versa. You may not sell any products or services sold at your Cicis Restaurant through any alternate distribution channels, including, the Internet, catalogue sales, supermarkets, convenience stores, or grocery stores.
We and our affiliates have and retain all rights within and outside the Protected Area that are not expressly and exclusively granted to you under the Franchise Agreement, without any obligation to compensate you and without regard to whether it competes with your Cicis Restaurant, including the right to do and to authorize others to do the following: (i) establish and operate Cicis Restaurants identified by the Marks at any location outside the Protected Area, including locations that are adjacent or proximate to the Protected Area and in any Reserved Area (defined below) whether within or outside the Protected Area, (ii) establish and operate restaurants under other trade names, service marks, and trademarks at any location within or outside of the Protected Area, (iii) establish and operate Cicis To Go Restaurants anywhere in world, including within the Protected Area, (iv) offer and sell, anywhere in the world (including within the Protected Area) any similar or dissimilar products and services, whether identified by the Marks or by other trademarks, trade names or service marks, through any channel or by any method of distribution other than a full-service Cicis Restaurant (including by or through a Cicis To Go Restaurant, the Internet or similar electronic, virtual, or digital medium), on any terms and conditions we deem appropriate, and (v) acquire, be acquired by, merge with, affiliate with or engage in any transaction with other businesses (whether competitive or not) located anywhere and, even if such businesses are located in the Protected Area, (x) convert the other businesses to the Cici's brand and allow them to operate as part of the System, and/or (y) permit the other businesses to continue to operate under another name and incorporate one or more elements of the System. A "Reserved Area" is any enclosed area of retail sales establishments in excess of 250,000 square feet, food courts, airports, hospitals, cafeterias, commissaries, schools, hotels, office buildings and stadiums, arenas, ballparks, festivals, fairs, military bases and other mass gathering locations or events. Without limiting the foregoing, we and our affiliates may, among other things, offer and sell, and authorize others to offer and sell: (a) collateral products, such as pre-packaged food products, t-shirts and other Cicis memorabilia, under the Marks at or from any location or through any channel of distribution; (b) food and beverage services under the Marks at or through any permanent, temporary or seasonal food service facility or through any channel of distribution except a fullservice Cicis Restaurant located within the Protected Area, which facilities may provide in whole or in part the products and services offered by a Cicis Restaurant; and (c) any products or services (including any food or beverage services) under any other names and marks at any location or through any channel of distribution.
Development Agreement
Under the Area Development Agreement, you will acquire franchises to develop, open and operate multiple Restaurants within a defined geographic area known as the "Development Area." We determine the size of the Development Area based on various market and economic factors, such as an evaluation of market demographics, the market penetration of similar businesses, the availability of appropriate sites, and the growth trends in the market. The size of the Development Area will depend on factors such as the numbers of Cicis Restaurants you undertake to open, demographics, and the existence of other Cicis Restaurants. The Development Area generally consists of a portion of a city, county or designated market area. Your Development Area will be described in the Area Development Agreement before you sign the Area Development Agreement. Under the Area Development Agreement we will, in accordance with our then-current System Standards, approve or reject your proposed locations for new Cicis Restaurants that you undertake to develop, and the Franchise Agreement for such Cicis Restaurants will set forth their Protected Area, if any, which we determine based on factors described above in this Item 12.
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 38–40)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Cicis's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees do not receive an exclusive territory under either the Franchise Agreement or the Area Development Agreement. This means a Cicis franchisee may face competition from other franchisees, outlets that Cicis owns, or other distribution channels or competitive brands that Cicis controls. However, the Franchise Agreement does grant the franchisee the right to operate their Cicis Restaurant at a single, approved location within a Designated Area. As long as the franchisee complies with the Franchise Agreement, Cicis will not operate or grant others the right to operate another Restaurant within a Protected Area, which is a specified geographic area described in the Franchise Agreement. The size of the Protected Area is determined by Cicis based on market and economic factors.
Even with a Protected Area, other Restaurants, food aggregators, and third-party delivery service providers may deliver to customers located within a franchisee's Protected Area, and vice versa. Furthermore, franchisees are restricted from selling Cicis products or services through alternate distribution channels such as the Internet, catalogue sales, supermarkets, convenience stores, or grocery stores. Cicis and its affiliates retain all rights within and outside the Protected Area that are not expressly and exclusively granted to the franchisee, without any obligation to compensate the franchisee, even if it competes with their Cicis Restaurant.
Cicis and its affiliates have the right to establish and operate Cicis Restaurants outside the Protected Area, including adjacent or proximate locations, and in any Reserved Area, which includes enclosed retail areas exceeding 250,000 square feet, food courts, airports, hospitals, cafeterias, schools, hotels, office buildings, stadiums, arenas, ballparks, festivals, fairs, military bases, and other mass gathering locations. They can also operate restaurants under other trade names, service marks, and trademarks at any location within or outside the Protected Area, and establish and operate Cicis To Go Restaurants anywhere in the world, including within the Protected Area. Cicis can offer and sell any similar or dissimilar products and services through any channel other than a full-service Cicis Restaurant, including Cicis To Go Restaurants or the Internet.
For Area Development Agreements, as long as the franchisee complies with the Area Development Agreement and all Franchise Agreements, Cicis will not develop or operate, or grant anyone else a franchise to develop and operate, a Restaurant in the Development Area, except for Special Venues. Special Venues include locations where foodservice is provided by a master concessionaire, locations within larger venues like colleges, convention centers, airports, hotels, sports facilities, theme parks, hospitals, convenience stores, or other captive market locations, and distribution channels other than a Restaurant. Upon expiration or termination of the Area Development Agreement, Cicis can develop and operate, or franchise others to develop and operate, Restaurants within the former Development Area, except within the Protected Area granted to the franchisee under an effective Franchise Agreement.