Retail
Signarama Franchise
A retail sign-making and graphics franchise producing everything from vehicle wraps and banners to ADA and electronic signage out of storefront "Sign Centers." Roy and Ray Titus opened the first store in 1986 as "Speedy Sign*A*Rama, USA"; the company began franchising in late 1987 and has grown to 684 stores in 23 countries as of this filing. SAR sold off its two original corporate locations as franchises early on and has operated no company-owned Centers since.
Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Signarama's own filing.
What it costs to open
From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.
Franchise fee
$49,500
Total to open
$245,432–$344,768
Ongoing royalty
6% of gross sales
What you'd actually spend, over time
The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.
Defaulted to a rough retail industry average, not a figure from Signarama's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$395,432 – $494,768
Startup investment
$245,432–$344,768
Royalty per year (6%)
$30,000
Total royalty, 5yr
$150,000
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Signarama's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical retail profit margin (~6%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general retail industry benchmark, not a figure from Signarama's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.
At that profit, you'd break even in about
8.2–11.5 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Signarama is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is Signarama actually growing?
Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:
Locations opened vs. closed, by year
GrowingFrom Item 20 of Signarama's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 666 | 675 | +9 |
| 2024 | 675 | 681 | +6 |
| 2025 | 681 | 684 | +3 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 3 franchised units, ending the year at 684 total.
What you're actually signing up for
The cost and growth numbers above are only part of the picture. These three FDD items are the ones a prospective franchisee tends to weigh most heavily once they're past the sticker price.
Training & ongoing support (Item 11)
Item 11: franchisees pay the tiered Royalty described above plus the Marketing Fund Fee ($915/mo or 1% of gross sales, whichever is greater) and a separate $274/month POS software license fee; SAR also charges an Employee Training Fee of $500 per person attending training beyond the standard attendees.
Territory protection (Item 12)
Item 12: no exclusive or protected territory -- SAR designates a non-exclusive marketing-focus area (used to steer PPC and other digital marketing) rather than a protected zone, reserves the right to license the signarama.com website to take orders anywhere, and restricts franchisees only from using search-engine marketing to target other franchisees' geographic markets.
Renewal & termination terms (Item 17)
Item 17: an unusually long 35-year initial term with a matching 35-year renewal option (renewal fee $10,000, remodel to current standards required) -- among the longest terms of any franchise on this site.
How Signarama compares to other Retail franchises
Across the 6 retail franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $274,992–$462,659, with royalties averaging around 5% of gross sales (based on the 6 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
Keep going
- Signarama and PostNet are both retail franchises; PostNet's total investment starts about $5,232 lower than Signarama's. PostNet Franchise
- Signarama and Wild Birds Unlimited are both retail franchises; Wild Birds Unlimited's total investment starts about $13,797 lower than Signarama's. Wild Birds Unlimited Franchise
Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00004544, filed 3/27/2026, effective 5/26/2026. FDD issued March 27, 2026. Item 5: $49,500 Initial Franchise Fee ($9,500 binder due up front, $40,000 at signing); $39,500 for an existing storeowner's additional outlet. Item 6: royalty is a tiered sales-volume scale -- the greater of $500/month or 6% of gross sales up to $1,000,000/year, dropping to 4% on the portion of gross sales above $1,000,000 (tiers inflation-adjusted annually); 6% used here as the rate that applies to the large majority of single-Center volumes, with the $1M break noted. Marketing Fund Fee is $915/month ($880 via ACH) or 1% of gross sales, whichever is greater. Item 7 Totals (Standard Equipment Package): $245,432-$344,768 plus applicable tax. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets, worldwide count, no company-owned. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-03-27. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.
If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.