In this FDD Talk post, you’ll learn the following:

• Section I – Background information on the Brothers Bar & Grill franchise opportunity, including relevant news updates

• Section II – Estimated initial investment for a Brothers Bar & Grill franchise, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2019 FDD

• Section III – Initial franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing fee, and other fees for a Brothers Bar & Grill franchise, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2019 FDD

• Section IV – Number of franchised and company-owned Brothers Bar & Grill outlets at the start of the year and the end of the year for 2016, 2017, and 2018, based on Item 20 of the company’s 2019 FDD

• Section V – Presentation and analysis of Brothers Bar & Grill’s financial performance representations, based on Item 19 of the company’s 2019 FDD, including information on the:

• 2018 annual sales, square footage of the restaurant, and total population of the area where the restaurant is located for the restaurant with the highest sales and the restaurant with the lowest sales among the Brothers Bar & Grill restaurants with total annual sales over $2,000,000

• 2018 annual sales, square footage of the restaurant, and total population of the area where the restaurant is located for the restaurant with the highest sales and the restaurant with the lowest sales among the Brothers Bar & Grill restaurants with total annual sales between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000

• 2018 annual sales, square footage of the restaurant, and total population of the area where the restaurant is located for the restaurant with the highest sales and the restaurant with the lowest sales among the Brothers Bar & Grill restaurants with total annual sales under $1,000,000

Section I – Background Information

15 Things You Need to Know About the Brothers Bar & Grill Franchise

Downtown Milwaukee Location Closes for Major Renovations

1.  In mid-November 2019, Brothers Bar & Grill in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin (the brand’s home state) announced that it was closing for six months to undergo a major expansion that includes adding a large kitchen and full menu. This location is one of Brothers’ most popular and is company-owned by Marc and Eric Fortney.

2.  The changes to the location include blending with an adjacent building. Fortney, Fortney and Fortney LLP, the La Crosse-based firm that operates the Brothers chain, recently bought the two-story, 1,500-square-foot building for $1 million, according to state real estate records.

3.  Brothers will punch through the common wall between the former Milwaukee Moulding shop and the tavern, Fortney said. Also, a back addition will be added on part of the former Milwaukee Moulding parking lot to create a full kitchen. That will allow Brothers to offer a full lunch and dinner menu similar to what the chain offers at its other locations throughout the Midwest, Fortney said.

4.  The new food offerings will include salads, wraps, sandwiches, and burgers. The Milwaukee location, which opened in 2006, had served just appetizers. Brothers has been expanding its menu at other locations – a change from when the business was mainly based on serving drinks.

5.  Fortney added, “Today, we are in the full bar and grill business.” On a final note, Fortney said the location’s expansion is being driven in part by Fiserv Forum’s 2018 opening, as well as more apartments being built in or near downtown Milwaukee.

Plans to Open Another Location in Colorado

6.  In early December 2019, Brothers Bar & Grill announced that it was potentially opening a new location in Fort Collins, Colorado. If the new location does open, it will be the fourth Brothers Bar & Grill in Colorado.

7.  The company has its eye on a former pizza shop’s location in Fort Collins’ Old Town. The shuttered Old Town storefront has been vacant since summer 2018, when Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom closed its College Avenue location after 36 years.

8.  At the time of the announcement, Brothers had just applied for a liquor license for the location and according to co-founder Marc Fortney, if all goes to plan, the brand was aiming for a spring 2020 opening. According to Fortney, “It’s a great street, it’s a great community. And we’re looking to really be part of the business community there and the community in general.”

Offering a Wide Array of Traditional Bar Food

9.  Brothers Bar & Grill offers a wide array of traditional bar food staples. Its appetizers and shareables menu features both boneless and bone-in wings with unique flavors such as My-Thai Orange, Nashv’ll Hot Smack, Red Hot Diablo, Spicy Garlic, Honey Whiskey Sriracha, Smokey Chipotle, Sweet BBQ, Dusted, and Buffalo.

10.  In an homage to its home state, Brothers also serves Wisconsin Famous Cheese Curds (Wisconsin beer-battered cheese curds served with various dipping sauces). There is also Firecracker Fries and Deep Fried Oreos. On the lighter side, Brothers Bar & Grill serves the following salads and wraps: Chop Chop Salad, Chicken Ranch Wrap, Veggie Avocado Wrap, Buffalo Chicken Wrap, and Queso Chicken Wrap.

11.  Of course, no bar menu is complete without burgers. Brothers’ burger menu includes the Smokehouse Burger, Wisconsin Cheese Curd Burger, and even a “No Meat For You!” Burger (a plant-based burger). Brothers also offers a few different chicken sandwiches such as the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Chicken Ranch Sandwich.

Company History

12.  Brothers Bar & Grill was founded in 1990 by brothers Marc and Eric Fortney in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The Fortney brothers opened the first bar right after they finished college. According to Brothers Bar & Grill, its concept is a modernized throwback to the old Midwestern corner tavern. The Fortneys wanted Brothers to be a relaxed social hangout that was stocked full of cold beer and good food.

13.  Brothers Bar & Grill boasts a large tap system that offers 35 to 40 taps of new, favorite, and standby drafts chilled and ready to pour. To go along with its wide array of beers, Brothers Bar & Grill serves big, basic bar comfort food.

14.  Although Brothers Bar & Grill has been in operation for nearly three decades, the franchise has remained relatively small with locations in a handful of states. Brothers Bar & Grill is still owned and operated by the Fortneys.

Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500

15.  Brothers Bar & Grill did not rank on Entrepreneur’s 2020 Franchise 500 list.

Section II – Estimated Costs

• Please click here for detailed estimates of Brothers Bar & Grill franchise costs, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2019 FDD.

Section III – Initial Franchise Fee, Royalty Fee, Marketing Fee, and Other Fees

• Please click here for detailed information on Brothers Bar & Grill’s initial franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing fee, and other fees, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2019 FDD.

Section IV – Number of Franchised and Company-Owned Outlets

Franchised

2016

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  1
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  1
• Net Change:  0

2017

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  1
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  0
• Net Change:  -1

2018

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  0
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  0
• Net Change:  0

Company-Owned*

2016

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  0
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  0
• Net Change:  0

2017

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  0
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  0
• Net Change:  0

2018

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  0
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  0
• Net Change:  0

*While there are no company-owned locations, as of December 31, 2018, the franchisor’s affiliates operated 19 Brothers Bar & Grill establishments.

Section V – Financial Performance Representations (Item 19, 2019 FDD) and Analysis

• Brothers Bar & Grill’s affiliates operate 19 stores that were open all of 2018. Eleven of those stores had sales of more than $2,000,000. Two stores had sales between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000. Six stores had sales of less than $1,000,000.

• For each of the three segments for which Brothers Bar & Grill provides financial information, Brothers Bar & Grill included the store with the highest sales and the store with the lowest sales.

• The information in the tables below represents actual financial data from 6 of the 19 stores operated by Brothers Bar & Grill’s affiliates that were open all of 2018. Brothers Bar & Grill grouped the stores exclusively by sales levels.

• All the stores are located in an “entertainment district,” which includes a concentration of entertainment venues such as restaurants, bars, clubs, pubs, art galleries, shops, sporting facilities, theaters, lodging, single/multi-family dwellings, and businesses.

• The information below is not a forecast of your potential future performance. Brothers Bar & Grill does not represent that you can expect to attain these sales amounts. There is no assurance that you will do as well. Your financial results are likely to differ from the results shown below. A newly-opened business may not achieve sales volumes similar to those of an established business.

• Neither Brothers Bar & Grill nor any of its affiliates make any promises or representations of any kind that you will achieve any particular results or level of sales or profitability or even achieve break-even results in any particular year of operation.

• Sales do not represent actual or potential income of a business and you should not rely on them in calculating prospective profitability. The profitability of individual businesses depends on a number of factors including your management skill, experience, and business acumen; local economic conditions; the local market for Brothers Bar & Grill products; and competition. These factors vary due to individual characteristics of the franchised business.

• You are responsible for developing your own business plan for your business, including capital budgets, financial statements, projections, and other elements appropriate to your particular circumstances. Brothers Bar & Grill encourages you to consult with your own accounting, business, and legal advisors to assist you in identifying the expenses you likely will incur in connection with your business, to prepare your budgets, and to assess the likely or potential financial performance of your business.

Segment 1 – Stores with Total Annual Sales Over $2,000,000

High Revenue