Questions we get every week

Ugly Bagel is a Nashville-born bagel, sandwich, and coffee shop built on an old-world process and new-world technology. Fresh, never-frozen dough uses five or six ingredients and undergoes a 12–18 hour cold ferment before the bagels are hand-rolled, boiled, and baked. Guests can choose from 14 bagel and schmear flavors each month, four butters, nine sandwiches, proprietary coffee, seasonal lattes, refreshers, and a monthly limited-time flavor drop.

Because nobody is perfect, and neither are our bagels. The name came from the first batch the founders ever perfected - it tasted incredible and looked terrible. Misshapen bagels still get sold, because flavor is the point. That idea runs through the brand: everybody belongs at Ugly Bagel, guests and crew alike. It is unpretentious and welcoming.

Most fast bagel concepts push minimum orders, refuse substitutions, won't toast, and treat coffee as an afterthought. Ugly Bagel is built for the daily habit and the monthly special: a full sandwich menu, proprietary coffee, seasonal lattes and refreshers, all-day catering, and centrally developed Monthly Drops that give guests a reason to return.

No. The recipe is engineered for consistency - programmed water dosers, precise ferment times, and simple ingredient counts remove the guesswork. New crew typically reach production competency on rolling within about a week. What we can't teach is hospitality, which is why we select for it.

Operators who lead with hospitality, are coachable on brand standards, are engaged in their community, and genuinely enjoy putting people in a good mood at 7 a.m. Owner-operators and multi-unit developers are both a fit. Anyone looking to cut labor and product quality to squeeze margin is not.

Yes. Multi-unit development agreements cover three to five shops on an agreed development schedule, and the Non-Kitchen Model - fed daily from a central kitchen - is designed specifically for units two through five.

For the Full Model shop, the estimated initial investment is $1,326,622 to $1,600,000. The Non-Kitchen Model - available as your second through fifth unit under a multi-unit development agreement - is estimated at $594,459 to $970,709. Both ranges include the franchise fee, build-out, equipment, signage, POS, opening inventory, grand opening marketing, professional fees, and three months of additional funds. Source: Ugly Bagel 2026 FDD, Item 7.

$35,000 per shop. Multi-unit developers also pay a $30,000 development area fee for each additional shop committed beyond the first.

We look for roughly $300,000 in liquid capital and $1 million in net worth for a single Full Model shop, with more for a multi-unit commitment. Those are guidelines for self-selection, not lender requirements.

Yes - a royalty on Gross Sales, a brand development fund contribution, and a local marketing spend requirement, plus a small technology fee and a capped annual conference fee. Every fee, amount, and due date is itemized in Item 6 of the Franchise Disclosure Document, which we share with qualified candidates.

We present the available Item 19 figures with the required context and qualifications. The complete financial performance representation appears in Item 19 of the FDD. The full breakdown, including revenue, food cost, labor cost, and gross margin, is also in the Franchise Investor Magazine. Download it and the numbers are yours.

We do not provide direct financing and do not guarantee any note, lease, or obligation. Candidates arrange their own capital and third-party financing. We will walk qualified candidates through capital structure and typical lender expectations.

Each franchise agreement grants one shop at one approved location plus a Designated Territory, typically a three-mile radius. In dense urban markets the radius may be smaller, and in captive-market locations such as airports, malls, or universities the territory may equal the physical footprint of the site.

No territory is fully exclusive. The franchisor reserves rights to sell through other channels - online, wholesale, captive-market locations, and acquisitions of similar concepts - inside or outside your territory. Multi-unit developers receive a negotiated development area with a development schedule.

We are prioritizing the Southeast and high-growth Sun Belt metros where morning traffic, daytime population, and franchise-friendly economics line up. If you have a market in mind, tell us on the inquiry form and we'll tell you honestly whether it's open.

Full Model shops run 1,037–1,600 square feet, typically in high-traffic retail or strip centers with strong morning and lunch trade, good parking, and visibility. Non-Kitchen Model shops run 1,037–1,400 square feet and are fed daily from a central kitchen sized for three to five shops.

Yes. Site selection is a founder-led part of the process - we review demographics, traffic patterns, and lease terms with you, and no location goes forward without our approval. We also bring an in-house construction manager and a mandated architecture and engineering partner who handle design and permitting.

Plan on six to nine months from signing. You must secure an approved location within 120 days of signing and open within ten months of the effective date.

About two weeks of initial training in Nashville covering hands-on production, commissary and delivery logistics, and kitchen-less operations, plus classroom work on the profit-and-loss statement (P&L), food cost, HR, payroll, and the operations manual. Your Managing Owner and one manager attend at no additional charge, and training is completed before you open.

Very. The system is still small enough that you work directly with the people who built it - weekly development calls from signing through opening, on-site support around your grand opening, and direct access afterward. That access is a feature of joining early.

The stack is already built: POS, online ordering, kiosk and app ordering, gift cards and loyalty, digital menu boards, and in-store media are centrally managed so menus, pricing, and drop launches update system-wide. On the production side, programmed equipment takes the judgment calls out of the dough.

Corporate owns the national social channels and produces the campaign creative, Monthly Drops, and mascot content, so you are not writing posts at 11 p.m. You run a local page, spend a set percentage of Gross Sales locally against approved templates, and contribute to the Brand Development Fund. Grand opening marketing is deployed with our agency in the months before you open.

Fresh, never-frozen dough is prepared and cold-fermented for 12–18 hours, then hand-rolled, boiled, and baked according to the daily production schedule, so mornings are about execution and hospitality rather than improvisation. Owners spend their time on people, guests, catering relationships, and local outreach - the parts of the business that actually move sales.

Ten years, with one additional ten-year renewal term if you are in compliance, give 180 days notice, sign the then-current agreement, provide a general release, remodel to current standards, and pay the renewal fee.

Yes, subject to franchisor approval of the buyer and a transfer fee. The franchisor holds a right of first refusal to match a bona fide purchase offer.

Tennessee. All litigation, mediation, and arbitration take place there, which may mean traveling from your home state - the FDD flags this as a risk factor you should weigh.

Three company-owned shops in the Nashville area, with the first opened in November 2024. Ugly Bagel is a new franchise system with a limited operating history and had no franchised outlets in operation as of the most recent fiscal year end.

Download the Franchise Investor Magazine, then an introductory call, a qualification and market conversation, review of the Franchise Disclosure Document with a mandatory 14-day waiting period, validation calls, a Discovery Day in Nashville with the founders, and finally approval and signing.

The full concept overview, shop formats, build-out and investment detail, the support and training model, market criteria, and the complete Item 19 financial performance representation presented with its required context and qualifications.

Fill out the short form on this site and download the magazine. If your market and timing line up, our development team follows up within a couple of business days.