Does Monicals Pizza grant franchisees an exclusive territory?
Monicals_Pizza Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
[Item 12: TERRITORY]
ITEM 12. TERRITORY
Franchise Agreement
You will not receive an exclusive territory. You may face competition from other franchisees, from outlets that we own, or from other channels of distribution or competitive brands that we control. The area that you will receive (called an "area of primary responsibility" or "area") will be described and depicted in a map attached to the Franchise Agreement. We determine the boundaries of the area based on a variety of factors, including population, median population age, proximity to competitors, median income characteristics, proximity to other franchisees and natural, physical or political boundaries.
We reserve the right to establish other franchised or company-owned businesses in your area under other systems using other trademarks at locations inside and outside of your area that may compete with your franchised restaurant. We also reserve the right to establish other channels of distribution for the sale of Monical's Pizza menu items, including Internet sales, catalog sales, telemarketing, or other direct marketing sales while using our principal trademark or any other of our trademarks. These activities may compete with your franchised restaurant. We will not compensate you for any sales made in your area through an alternate channel of distribution. You may not focus your marketing on customers located outside your area of primary responsibility, although you may collect e-mail addresses and cellphone numbers from guests of your restaurants for use in future e-mail or text marketing activities. Any sales you make of any products to be resold will be made only in strict compliance with the provisions of the Confidential Operations Manual. Unless you are advertising cooperatively with another franchisee, you may not advertise in any media primarily circulated within another franchisee's area of primary responsibility without our permission.
If you are a Developer, we will grant you a development territory. The development territory will vary in size depending upon the number of Monical's restaurants you intend to develop and the population density and demographics of the area under consideration. So long as you meet the minimum development schedule, comply with all other provisions described in the Development Agreement and otherwise comply with the provisions of each related Franchise Agreement, we will not establish or operate, or license others to establish or operate, a Monical's restaurant or substantially similar business in your development territory.
At the expiration of the Development Agreement, if you have complied with all of its terms and conditions, and if we determine that the development territory can be further developed by opening additional Monical's restaurants, we will, for one year after the expiration of the Development Agreement give you a right of refusal to develop, own and operate any additional Monical's restaurants proposed for development inside of the development territory.
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 27–28)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Monicals Pizza's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees do not receive an exclusive territory. Instead, franchisees are granted an "area of primary responsibility," the boundaries of which are determined by Monicals Pizza based on factors such as population, median age, income, proximity to competitors and other franchisees, and physical boundaries.
Monicals Pizza retains the right to establish other franchised or company-owned businesses, even those that compete with the franchisee's location, both inside and outside of the franchisee's primary area. They also reserve the right to establish other channels of distribution, such as internet sales, that may compete with the franchised restaurant. Franchisees will not be compensated for sales made in their area through these alternate channels.
While franchisees must focus their marketing efforts within their primary area, they can collect contact information from guests for future marketing. Unless advertising cooperatively, franchisees need permission to advertise in media primarily circulated within another franchisee's area. However, if a franchisee is an Area Developer, Monicals Pizza will not establish or license others to establish a Monicals Pizza restaurant within the developer's territory, so long as the developer meets the minimum development schedule and complies with the Development and Franchise Agreements. At the expiration of the Development Agreement, the Area Developer has a one-year right of first refusal to develop additional Monicals Pizza restaurants in the territory.