What happens if Noodles & Company does not approve a proposed site for a restaurant?
Noodles_Company Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
You select the site for your Noodles & Company restaurants, subject to our approval. If we do not approve a site you propose, you may select another site, subject to our approval. We will not enter into a Franchise Agreement with you for a restaurant until after we have approved the site. If you enter into an Area Development Agreement with us, you must select sites within your specified Development Area in accordance with the Area Development Agreement and its included schedule. We must approve the location of future units and our then current standards for sites will apply. Failure to do so could result in your violation of your covenants in the Area Development Agreement and termination of the Area Development Agreement. We will provide you with our site selection criteria and/or on-site evaluations of sites as we deem appropriate. Site approval is based on reasonable business judgement, and our criteria may be modified at our discretion.
Source: Item 11 — FRANCHISOR'S ASSISTANCE, ADVERTISING, COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND TRAINING (FDD pages 36–48)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Noodles & Company's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, if Noodles & Company does not approve a site proposed by a franchisee, the franchisee can select another site, which is also subject to Noodles & Company's approval. Noodles & Company will not enter into a Franchise Agreement until after they have approved the site. If the franchisee has an Area Development Agreement, they must select sites within their specified Development Area, and Noodles & Company must approve the location of future units based on their current standards for sites. Failure to do so could result in a violation of the Area Development Agreement and its potential termination.
Noodles & Company provides general guidance in selecting sites and will give franchisees their site selection criteria. Franchisees must submit a complete "Site Package" with all required information for each proposed site. Noodles & Company's Real Estate Site Approval Committee meets approximately every 4 weeks, and franchisees are responsible for submitting their sites for approval at least one week before the meeting. Noodles & Company will either approve or reject each site for which a complete Site Package is submitted, using a Site Approval Form as the exclusive means of approval. They aim to make a decision within 45 days after receiving the complete Site Package and any other requested materials.
In deciding whether to approve or reject a site, Noodles & Company may consider various factors, including the general location and neighborhood, demographic information, traffic patterns, access, visibility, site economics, the location of other retail food establishments (including other Noodles & Company restaurants), and the site's size, condition, trade dress, configuration, appearance, and other physical characteristics. The franchisee's restaurants may not be relocated without Noodles & Company's prior written consent and compliance with their then-current site criteria. No lease for an approved site may be entered into without Noodles & Company's prior written consent, which they will not unreasonably withhold. Franchisees are responsible for conducting independent due diligence before selecting and leasing a site, and Noodles & Company's approval does not guarantee success, profitability, or viability.