Franchise network establishments in Belo Horizonte have a median area of 69 m² on the municipal operating permit

Belo Horizonte's Alvará de Localização e Funcionamento (municipal location and operating permit) records the area used by each establishment, information absent from the CNPJ (Brazilian company registry) register. The indicator matches this record, by 14-digit CNPJ, with the 1,415 active establishments that the census attributes to the 434 networks of the universe present in the municipality, including those with fewer than 30 active CNPJs in the country, of which 1,088 (76.9%) have a valid permit. In the subset of the 503 measured networks, used on the municipality pages, Belo Horizonte has 1,071 active establishments. After the field is cleaned, 965 establishments from 328 networks remain, with a median area of 69 m² and half of the cases between 40 m² and 149 m². The median ranges from 50 m² in food to 300 m² in education, and 65.2% of the establishments have up to 100 m².

The comparison with the minimum area that the networks themselves disclose on their franchise offer pages covers 21 networks with 3 or more valid cases, 178 establishments in all. In this group, 31.5% declare on the permit an area below the disclosed minimum, 30.9% fall between the minimum and less than double, and 37.6% reach double or more. The median of the disclosed minimums is 40 m², and that of the areas on the permit, 62 m². The share below the minimum is 36.6% for CNPJs opened up to 2022 and 27.1% for those opened since 2023, and falls to 26.1% without the locations of up to 15 m² of networks that also offer a kiosk. The rank correlation between the disclosed minimum and the median on the permit is 0.33, so the minimum only partly tracks the size of the locations in operation. The minimum describes the format offered today, and the difference does not indicate non-compliance with any network rule.

Among the other establishments with the same CNAEs (national classification of economic activities) in the municipal register, weighted by the same mix of subclasses, the median is 60 m², against 67 m² for the networks, and the networks' median is higher in 5 of 8 segments. The difference changes sign depending on the activity. Among 23 subclasses with a sufficient number of cases, the networks' median is higher in 12 and lower in 10, with the extremes in combined office and administrative support services (121.5 m² against 25 m²) and in restaurants and similar establishments (57 m² against 100 m²). Establishments in properties with 20 or more permits, a proxy for shopping centers and large commercial buildings, have a median of 47 m², against 93.5 m² in other properties. Belo Horizonte accounts for 1.8% of the active establishments of the measured networks, and the results describe this municipality.

How we calculate

We start from the establishments active in October 2026 that the observatory's census attributes to the networks, by trade name expression and by the CNAE subclasses of the network profile, with Belo Horizonte as the municipality in the records of Receita Federal (the federal tax authority). The match with the permit, file of October 15, 2026, is made by 14-digit CNPJ, with active status or active with deferred fees. Rows for individuals and for MEI (individual microentrepreneur regime) are excluded, and no legal name is stored.

The area field receives the same treatment for the networks and for the other establishments. Removed are permits without an activity carried out on site and those registered as office, storeroom or warehouse (59 among the networks); areas that diverge by more than 20% from the economic activity register of the same city government (61), a criterion that captures thousand-scale errors such as 153 and 153,000; areas below 3 m² (none); and those above 5,000 m² outside lodging (3), usually the entire property. There is no zero or empty area among the networks' permits. The total removed is 123 of 1,088.

The other establishments are all other CNPJs with a permit, outside any CNPJ root of the networks, with the main CNAE from the economic activity register. The comparison weights each subclass by its weight in the networks, and uses only subclasses with 30 or more other establishments. By network and by cell, we publish only groups with 5 or more establishments.

The minimum area comes from the field extracted from the networks' own franchise offer pages, with the lowest value when there is more than one format, and the excerpts of the networks in the comparison were checked. The aggregate uses the 21 networks with 3 or more valid cases, and the comparison is made establishment by establishment against the minimum of its network. Kiosks are presumed from an area of up to 15 m² in networks whose page mentions this format. The network whose excerpt deals with construction cost per square meter is excluded.

Calculated on November 8, 2026. Method version 1.0. Sample: 965 establishments (14-digit CNPJ) from 328 networks, in a single municipality. Corrected on November 8, 2026 (in Portuguese).

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