Crumbl’s emergence as a seemingly overnight success hit a roadblock in 2023 in the form of declining per-unit sales and weaker profits.
But the company bounced back last year, at least according to data from the company’s most recent franchise disclosure document (FDD).
The average Crumbl store in 2024 generated nearly $1.4 million in revenue. That’s 17% higher than in 2023.
Profitability was another matter, and the company’s performance last year depended on which mathematical calculation you choose.
Median net profit fell 32% in 2024 to $77,359, according to the FDD. Average profits, on the other hand, more than doubled to $251,706 per location, suggesting a wide gap in profitability performance among Crumbl’s franchisees.
Of the chain’s more than 1,000 locations, 43% generated net profits higher than that $251,706 average.
Crumbl dramatically slowed its expansion last year. The franchise had been adding about one new location every day coming out of the pandemic. The chain averaged about 276 new locations annually from 2021 through 2023.
The company added just 81 new locations in 2024, which is still about 9% unit growth but is well under the rate of the previous three years.
The Lindon, Utah-based chain finished 2024 with 1,059 shops, having completed a remarkable period of unit growth that put its cookie shops in most cities around the country. Since 2021, the company’s unit count grew by about 600%.
A franchise disclosure document is legally required of all franchise systems before they are able to sell franchises and includes a wide range of information about the offering. Franchises are not required to include unit-level financials in the document at all. Crumbl is one of the few franchises in any industry that goes as far as to include unit-level profitability in its document.
The company opened its first location in 2017 and grew rapidly from there with a rotating menu of cookies, a heavy use of digital ordering and a strong social media presence.
But its growth has drawn comparisons to frozen yogurt chains coming out of the Great Recession, which grew rapidly with simple, treat-based offerings. Perhaps because of that, Crumbl vigorously pushed back against companies it felt copied its offerings.
The company closed units for the first time in 2023 as its unit volumes and profitability declined. Crumbl then shifted. It started selling items other than cookies, such as cakes and pies. It also started offering cookie catering to businesses and marketed more heavily, with branded soap and television appearances.
Crumbl has hoped to translate its growth into a sale. The company has been looking for a buyer at a reported valuation of $2 billion, though that price has engendered some skepticism among some private-equity sources we’ve spoken with.
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