Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Madison, WI Metro Area

Madison: first among its own classes

Quick service tops the local class list in Madison, 1 of 39, even though the metro stands only 52 of 779 nationally for the class; the city leans on counters more than its national position would suggest. Location quotient: 1.22x. The record holds 68 loans and $26.0 million for FY2017 to FY2026. Median ticket is $290,950, 0.94x of the national one, and the central loans stretch from $100,000 to $488,125.

Franchise flags sit on 48.5% of loans, which splits the record almost evenly between branded and independent operators; a study cannot assume either. Loan Analytics withholds the program counts for thinness, and nothing is printed in their place. Fast-casual, counter-service and drive-through formats share a class, so the format is something a study must state.

Lenders and county

The 7(a) holder table is flat. Associated Bank National Association, Summit CU and Lake Ridge Bank each show 7 loans, for $2.9 million, $960,000 and $551,500 respectively; The Huntington National Bank shows 5 loans and $1.7 million. A flat table says no single bank dominates and a borrower has several comparables to cite. SBA's holder entries carry no opinion about any institution. One county accounts for nearly the whole record: Dane County, WI with 56 loans.

Cancellation, a floor, struck at least 18.9% of approvals dated between FY2017 and FY2024. The ceiling and the charge-off rate lack enough loans to be published, and neither should be read as zero. Years that print: FY2017 with 7 loans and $918,800; FY2018 with 11 and $3.2 million; FY2019 with 12 and $7.0 million; FY2020 with 5 and $2.7 million; FY2021 with 5 and $2.1 million; FY2023 with 7 and $2.6 million; FY2025 with 9 and $2.3 million; FY2026 with 6 and $2.9 million. Others are withheld. Only loans whose project county the July 2023 delineation puts inside Madison are counted here.

Counter-service tests for Madison

Demand has to be tested by daypart and by season along the actual corridor, with competing counters counted in range and build-out or conversion costed against the $290,950 median. Unit sales and food cost should leave room for debt service coverage after royalties wherever a franchise applies. Appraisal values the operating restaurant with its lease. Approval carries no assurance, and the 68 loans here frame a study without replacing one.