RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Virginia regulators have ordered Graze LLC, the company behind Secret Sandwich Society, to pay $10,000 over allegations that it sold its Richmond franchise without proper registration. According to the State Corporation Commission (SCC), documents from the settlement order in September allege Graze LLC violated the Virginia Retail Franchising Act by selling the Richmond franchise without registering it and hiding required documents from the buyer. As a result, the company must pay a $9,000 penalty and $1,000 in investigation costs. In a phone interview, Graze attorney David Fenwick said Graze created Society Hospitality LLC, the company that owns Secret Sandwich Society, and opened the restaurant located at 401 E. Grace St. in Richmond in 2016. The company sold Society Hospitality and the Richmond restaurant in August 2022 in a licensing agreement that still gave them branding control. Fenwick said the company was not sold as a franchise sale and chose to settle rather than spend more money fighting the allegations. The settlement is separate from an ongoing legal dispute involving the brand’s downtown Richmond restaurant over unpaid taxes, including a 2025 issue where the restaurant owed $119,419.14 in back taxes. A final order by the SCC shows the company settled the agreement on Oct. 15. SCC Secret Sandwich SocietyDownload ...read more read less