German Doner Kebab franchise
German Doner Kebab: $690,500–$1,123,000 total investment, $30,000 franchise fee, 11% total ongoing fee. Read out of the filings.
Compiled from public filings and operator sites Reviewed 2026-08-15
11%
Total ongoing fee
$690,500–$1,123,000
Total investment
7
Units, 2023
2017
Founded
2017
Franchising since
MI
Auburn Hills
1,200–1,400
Typical size, sq ft
Yes
Item 19
The 2% local spend is waived if the store joins a GDK advertising cooperative, which can itself levy up to 2%. Royalty and brand fund may be raised annually with no cap. The Item 7 range is per outlet inside a five-outlet minimum commitment; a standalone single-store purchase is not offered. Item 1 of the same filing claimed nine outlets open by issuance, against seven at the 2023 year end reported here.
Fees
| Initial franchise fee | $30,000 |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% |
| Brand fund | 3% |
| Local advertising | 2% |
| Total ongoing | 11% of gross sales |
| Grand opening | $10,000–$15,000 |
| Transfer fee | 5% of the sale price |
| Renewal fee | 50% of the then-current franchise fee |
Opening one
| Total investment | $690,500–$1,123,000 |
|---|---|
| Typical size | 1,200–1,400 sq ft |
| Training | 40 hours classroom, 120 on the job |
| Territory | A non-exclusive protected territory with no minimum size, negotiated from demographics. Excludes campuses, sports venues, transport sites and aggregator delivery zones. |
| Initial term | 10 years |
| Renewal | One ten-year option, if the outlet is not in the bottom 10% on performance |
The system
| Format | UK kebab QSR |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Auburn Hills, MI |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Franchising since | 2017 |
| Units | 7, of which 7 franchised and 0 company-owned |
| Item 19 | Yes. One franchised outlet at American Dream Mall, East Rutherford, the only unit open for the full year. 2023 gross revenues $1,383,053. |
Figures from FDD issued 3 September 2024 · dataset year 2024.
A larger restaurant version of German döner
German Doner Kebab is the other live German-döner franchise system in this dataset. The US franchisor is based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, while the wider operator is headquartered in Glasgow. The FDD issued 3 September 2024 assumes a 1,200-to-1,400-square-foot restaurant inside a five-outlet minimum commitment. That is a materially different development obligation from buying one compact shop.
The company’s US location directory currently names American Dream, Astoria, Midtown Manhattan, Centereach and Frisco. The dataset’s Item 20 row records seven outlets at year-end 2023, while Item 1 of the same 2024 filing said nine were open by issuance. Neither figure should be rewritten to match a later consumer locator: each statement covers a different date and document.
What the 2024 filing requires
The fee stack is 11%: 6% royalty, 3% brand fund and 2% local advertising. The local spend can be waived when a shop participates in an advertising cooperative, but the cooperative may itself levy up to 2%. The filing also allows annual increases to royalty and brand fund without a stated cap. That is why the current percentage is only the starting obligation.
Item 7 is $690,500 to $1,123,000 per outlet within the multi-unit commitment. Its construction and equipment assumptions belong to this 1,200-to-1,400- square-foot format. The filing’s Item 19 covers the American Dream franchised outlet, the only unit open for the full reported year, so its disclosed revenue is one-store evidence rather than a system average.
Training totals 40 classroom hours and 120 on the job. The territory is non-exclusive and excludes campuses, sports venues, transport sites and aggregator delivery zones. Renewal is one ten-year option, conditioned in part on the outlet not ranking in the bottom 10% on performance.
GDK’s official consumer site describes open kitchens, fresh-cut meat and in-store sauce preparation. Those claims explain the customer format; the FDD explains the franchise obligation. Keeping the two source types separate makes GDK comparable without treating its marketing copy or international footprint as US disclosure evidence.