The rapid growth of modern retail in Indonesia has accelerated the expansion of franchise minimarkets across urban and semi-urban areas. Despite their standardized operating systems and brand advantages, many franchise minimarket outlets fail and close within the second to third year of operation. This study aims to identify and explain the key factors contributing to early franchise minimarket failure through a qualitative approach that foregrounds owners’ lived experiences and interpretations of failure. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with former franchise minimarket owners whose outlets had ceased operations, and were strengthened through netnography and document analysis as triangulation to enhance credibility. All qualitative data were analyzed using NVivo 15 following a thematic analysis procedure involving data familiarization, open coding, categorization, and theme development to reveal dominant patterns underlying business closure. The findings indicate that franchise minimarket failure is a multifactor phenomenon shaped by the interaction of internal and external pressures. Key internal drivers include weak marketing management, limited capability to develop adaptive sales strategies, and escalating operational costs. External drivers include non-strategic locations, shifting customer traffic patterns, declining local purchasing power, and aggressive competition from large networked modern retailers. Outlets established without adequate market feasibility assessment were more vulnerable to recurring losses and cash-flow constraints, ultimately leading to closure. These findings underscore the importance of rigorous pre-entry planning, strengthened managerial capacity, and supportive zoning policies to improve the sustainability of franchise minimarkets.