Freddy’s expands in-line development with a lower investment floor

Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers is emphasizing in-line and endcap restaurants as it projects roughly 60 openings in 2026. That gives franchisees more ways to enter markets beyond standalone sites.

Its July 7 update advertises an in-line investment range starting at $854,834, compared with $1,586,334 for a standalone restaurant. The difference between those lower bounds is $731,500, or about 46.1% of the standalone floor. Freddy’s development update

That calculation compares advertised entry points. The release supplies neither the upper bounds nor a line-item budget, and the franchise disclosure document has not been independently reviewed for this article.

Freddy’s says approximately one-third of existing franchisees are expanding into additional territories. Its priority areas include the Northeast, Rust Belt, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, Northern California and Florida.

The commercial change is a wider choice of building types across those markets. The announcement does not establish that an individual developer will save $731,500 by choosing an in-line site, or that the lower investment produces a better return.

Earlier development work shows the cost levers#

In a January 27, 2025, report, Franchise Times described a 2,400- to 2,800-square-foot prototype that devoted more space to pickup and drive-thru operations. Chief Development Officer Andrew Thengvall identified a construction management tool, site-selection analytics, a contractor network and additional equipment suppliers as development support. Laura Michaels’ original reporting

CEO Chris Dull told the publication that a corporate in-line restaurant in Wichita cost about $900,000 to open. He expected it to approach $2 million in sales without a drive-thru. That sales figure was a forecast at the time.

The report separately put 2023 average sales at $1.4 million for three franchised restaurants without drive-thrus. Three stores offer a narrow reference, not a representative systemwide sales base.

Thengvall said development commitments were matched to each franchisee’s capabilities and capital structure, making the operator part of the site decision.

These examples show why investment and revenue need the same format definition. Wichita supplies a company-reported build cost; the franchised group supplies sales for a different population. Combining them would produce an unsupported payback estimate.

A dining-room-free site still serves several channels#

Freddy’s had already explored another way to change the footprint. In June 2021, it announced groundbreaking for a Salina, Kansas, prototype with no dining room. The design retained two drive-thru lanes and added curbside parking, a walk-up ordering window and patio seating. The Salina prototype announcement

Construction was expected to continue through the summer, with a possible late-August opening. The release described the design and construction start, rather than documenting the completed restaurant’s operating results.

Freddy’s said the features followed a brand study of drive-thru operations and guest habits. Dull described the format as aimed at customers ordering on the go and linked it to existing mobile-ordering capabilities.

Salina’s design moves service space around the property. Removing a dining room still leaves the developer to accommodate vehicle queues, curbside parking and walk-up customers. Patio seating preserves an on-site dining option.

For site selection, the relevant comparison is therefore the whole parcel and its service channels, not indoor square footage alone.