Credit: Irene Jiang/Business Insider

Now that’s what I call having it your way.

I’m no business genius, but I’m reasonably certain that a fast food franchise location should cost at least four figures, three minimum. I mean, it’s a building, or at least part of one. Buildings cost a lot of money. Apparently, though, I’m way off the mark, because a single restaurant group just obtained five full locations for a single dollar.

Tasty Restaurant Group, a restaurant franchising group based out of Los Angeles, purchased five Burger King retail locations in Iowa from an anonymous buyer for the grand total of $1 USD. Three of these retail locations are owned by the unnamed seller, while they have a lease on the other two. All of these responsibilities will be transferred to Tasty Restaurant Group. Just to put that in perspective, a Whopper from Burger King costs $4.19. Five full stores are worth less than a Whopper. Heck, they’re worth less than a side of fries.

Despite the mildly sketchy prospect of buying five stores for a dollar, Tasty Restaurant Group has assured that their playing above board here, telling Business Insider that the deal was a “straightforward transaction, in which the operator is assuming the assets and liabilities held by each location it is acquiring.”

“The sale might be a small one, but it’s also a sign of the challenges in the franchise space, where small franchisees struggle to get financing for remodels or expansion and end up selling to much larger companies, which amass greater and greater holdings,” says Restaurant Business reporter Jonathan Maze.

Credit: Getty Images

According to business analysts, the ongoing pandemic has robbed a lot of fast food locations of their business, which in turn drives down their value. McDonald’s, Papa John’s, and Dunkin’ have been cutting new deals with potential franchisees to diversify their real estate. Of course, owning a franchise also means taking responsibility for it, which is obviously harder during the aformentioned pandemic. Several franchisees, including NPC International, the largest in the US, have declared bankruptcy, leaving numerous locations all over the country without ownership.