Circle K franchise: what it costs
Opening a new convenience store with a Circle K franchise takes between $1,472,500 and $2,874,650. The source is the brand's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), papers the brand must give you ahead of a purchase.
Circle K franchise cost, item by item
- Full cost of opening
- $1,472,500 to $2,874,650 Item 7, 2026 FDD
- Franchise fee you pay one time at the start
- $25,000 Item 5, 2026 FDD
- Royalty, your ongoing payments to the brand
- Based on the funding package, the royalty runs 3.5% to 6% of gross sales (at least $1,000 monthly) Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Marketing fund, which covers shared advertising
- Promotion fees, both local and national, come on top of 0.25% of gross sales Item 6, 2026 FDD
- Figures on sales or earnings
- Not given Item 19, 2026 FDD
- Locations when 2026 ended
- Of these, 515 were run by franchise owners and 5,556 by the company Item 20, 2026 FDD
Each figure above comes from the 2026 Circle K Franchise Disclosure Document, which TMC Franchise Corporation filed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce. Each small label points to the numbered part of the FDD where that figure sits.
Circle K FDD figures for sales and earnings
Item 19 from Circle K includes no sales or earnings figures, so its FDD is silent on what its locations sell or bring in. Ask the owners listed under Item 20, the FDD's list covering locations and owners, how much they earn.
Before you lean on any figure in an Item 19, our guide shows how to read one.
The number of Circle K locations
At the end of 2026, the United States had 6,071 Circle K locations, with franchise owners running 8% of them (Item 20). In that same part of the FDD, you get phone numbers for owners still running stores and ones who left. Your best way to learn how these costs play out in real life is to call a few of them.
Get the Circle K FDD read by a franchise attorney
Before you sign, one franchise attorney can go through the Circle K FDD and franchise agreement with you.