If purchasing multiple Cicis franchises, what rights and obligations are acquired?
Cicis Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
We also offer to certain qualified entities the right and obligation to acquire multiple franchises for the development and opening of Cicis Restaurants (the "Development Rights") within an agreed upon geographic territory (the "Development Area") and according to an agreed upon schedule (the "Development Schedule"). To acquire the Development Rights, you must sign our form of area development agreement and related agreements, the current forms of which are attached to this Disclosure Document as Exhibit C (the "Area Development Agreement"). You and we will agree on both the Development Area and the Development Schedule before signing, and each will be identified in, the Area Development Agreement. Our typical Area Development Agreement requires development of 2 or 3 Cicis Restaurants, with the final agreed upon number being reflected in the Area Development Agreement you sign. You will sign the Franchise Agreement for the 1st Cicis Restaurant when you sign the Area Development Agreement. For each subsequent Cicis Restaurant you commit to develop, you must sign our then-current form of
Franchise Agreement, which may be materially different than the form we were using when you signed the Area Development Agreement.
Your direct and indirect owners will be required to sign an agreement (the current form of which is attached as Attachment B to the Franchise Agreement and the Area Development Agreement) pursuant to which they each personally assume and guarantee your obligations under the Franchise Agreement and the Area Development Agreement (each a "Guaranty"). If the spouses of your owners are not themselves owners of you, we will require them to sign the Guaranty solely to acknowledge that you are signing it to bind yourself and any marital property. A non-owner spouse is not otherwise obligated under the Guaranty.
Source: Item 1 — The Franchisor and any Parents, Predecessors, and Affiliates (FDD pages 6–8)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Cicis's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, qualified entities have the option to acquire multiple franchises through Development Rights for opening Cicis restaurants within a specific geographic territory, known as the Development Area, according to an agreed-upon Development Schedule. To secure these Development Rights, franchisees must sign Cicis's standard Area Development Agreement and related documents, which are included as Exhibit C in the FDD. The Development Area and Development Schedule are determined by mutual agreement and outlined in the Area Development Agreement.
Typically, Cicis's Area Development Agreement requires the development of 2 or 3 restaurants, with the exact number specified in the signed agreement. When signing the Area Development Agreement, the franchisee also signs the Franchise Agreement for the first Cicis restaurant. For each subsequent restaurant under the development agreement, franchisees must sign Cicis's current Franchise Agreement, which may differ significantly from the initial agreement.
Furthermore, the direct and indirect owners of the franchisee entity must sign a Guaranty, included as Attachment B to both the Franchise Agreement and the Area Development Agreement. This Guaranty ensures that these individuals personally guarantee the franchisee's obligations under both agreements. If the owners have spouses who are not themselves owners, Cicis requires these spouses to sign the Guaranty as well, but solely to acknowledge the binding of marital property, without imposing any other obligations on the non-owner spouse.