Shah's Halal Food — Item 7
Shah's Halal Item 7: $197,000–$405,000 for a 1,200–2,000 sq ft restaurant. Zero franchises operating; 44 licenses. Maryland treated those licenses as unregistered franchise sales.
Figures from FDD issued 10 April 2024, disclosure year 2024. The labels and amounts below follow the filing rather than a standardized restaurant budget.
Full-sized restaurant, 1,200–2,000 sq ft. This format statement belongs with the range: footprint, site type, and development commitment can make a similarly named row cover a different project in another filing.
Line items as filed
| Type of expenditure | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $30,000 | $30,000 |
| Travel Expenses to Attend Training | $2,000 | $20,000 |
| Real Property | $3,000 | $10,000 |
| Build-Out/Construction | $80,000 | $160,000 |
| Fixture Package | $30,000 | $50,000 |
| Initial Inventory | $10,000 | $30,000 |
| Marketing Supplies | $2,000 | $7,000 |
| Signage | $10,000 | $28,000 |
| Computer Hardware | $4,000 | $6,000 |
| Insurance | $6,000 | $10,000 |
| Licenses | $1,000 | $3,000 |
| Grand Opening Campaign | $1,000 | $5,000 |
| Legal & Accounting | $3,000 | $6,000 |
| Miscellaneous Opening Costs | $5,000 | $15,000 |
| Additional Funds - 3 Months | $10,000 | $30,000 |
| Total printed in filing | $197,000 | $405,000 |
Arithmetic note. The high column of the fifteen line items sums to $410,000. The filing prints a total of $405,000, and the cover page repeats that total. The gap is in the document.
What this table can and cannot compare
The table answers what this filing put into Item 7. It does not establish a contractor's price, a lender's uses schedule, or the cash needed through break-even. Rows such as a restaurant or fixture package should remain bundled unless the filing itself breaks them apart. A disclosed zero remains zero; a cost the filing does not state remains absent rather than being estimated here.
How a consultant should brief this table
- Name the format and filing year before the total. A 1,200 sq ft counter shop and a full restaurant are different projects even when the ranges overlap.
- Keep the original row labels. Do not split a restaurant package into guessed equipment and construction lines.
- Read every footnote against the low column. A $0 low estimate is usually an assumption about the site, not a free cost.
- Add both columns yourself. If the lines do not equal the printed total, record both numbers and stay with the document.
- Replace the table with a site budget: lease and landlord work, contractor scope, equipment quotes, opening inventory, and cash through the stated additional-funds period.
Carry the same questions to reading Item 7, range interpretation, the printable worksheet, and working capital.
Questions to carry into diligence
- Which low-end assumptions depend on a reusable site, landlord contribution, discount, or smaller format?
- Which freight, tax, installation, design, permit, and pre-opening costs sit inside a package?
- What begins rent, and which occupancy costs continue beyond the initial period?
- How did recent franchisees' actual opening costs and ramp periods differ from this estimate?
What this table is
A 1,200–2,000 square-foot full-sized restaurant. Forty-four of 58 outlets in the 2024 filing were licensed; Item 20 said no franchises were operating. Those licensees are not a franchisee calling list for the agreement on offer, and there is no Item 19.
On 31 October 2024 the Maryland Securities Commissioner found that Shah’s Halal Food Partners had sold license agreements — mark, control of recipes, suppliers and signage, required fees — without registering and without giving an FDD. Four Maryland outlets, 2021–2023. Rescission was offered. The consent order is public and sits in Item 3 of later filings. The Virginia State Corporation Commission entered a settlement order against Shah’s Halal Franchising, Inc. on 7 August 2025 (SEC-2025-00016).
Construction prints $80,000–$160,000 on 1,200–2,000 square feet, a licensed national footprint. The fifteen high-column lines sum to $410,000 against a printed $405,000. Both numbers belong on the sheet.