Jack in the Box restaurants offer a broad selection of distinctive products including classic burgers like our Jumbo Jack® and innovative product lines such as Buttery Jack® burgers. We also offer quality products such as breakfast sandwiches with freshly cracked eggs, and craveable favorites such as tacos and curly fries, along with specialty sandwiches, salads, and real ice cream shakes, among other items. We allow our guests to customize their meals to their tastes and order any product when they want it, including breakfast items any time of day (or night). We are known for variety and innovation, which has led to the development of four strong dayparts: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night.
The Jack in the Box restaurant chain was the first major hamburger chain to develop and expand the concept of drive-thru restaurants. In addition to drive-thru windows, most of our restaurants have seating capacities ranging from 20 to 100 people and are open 18-24 hours a day. Drive-thru sales currently account for approximately 70% of sales at company-operated restaurants. The average check in fiscal year2019 was $8.34 for company-operated restaurants.
With a presence in only 21 states and one territory, we believe Jack in the Box is a brand with significant growth opportunities. In fiscal 2019, franchisees continued to expand in existing markets.
The following table summarizes the changes in the number of company-operated and franchise restaurants over the past five years:
Site selections for all new company-operated restaurants are made after an economic analysis and a review of demographic data and other information relating to population density, traffic, competition, restaurant visibility and access, available parking, surrounding businesses, and opportunities for market penetration. Restaurants developed by franchisees are built to brand specifications on sites we have approved.
Our company-operated restaurants have multiple restaurant models with different seating capacities to improve our flexibility in selecting locations. Management believes that this flexibility enables the Company to match the restaurant configuration with the specific economic, demographic, geographic, or physical characteristics of a particular site.
Typical costs to develop a traditional restaurant, excluding the land value, range from approximately$1.4 million to $2.0 million. The majority of our corporate restaurants are constructed on leased land or on land that we purchase and subsequently sell, along with the improvements, in sale and leaseback transactions. Upon completion of a sale and leaseback transaction, the Company’s initial cash investment is reduced to the cost of equipment, which ranges from approximately $0.4 million to $0.5 million.
Table:
 |  |  | Fiscal Year |  | 
 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
Company-operated restaurants: |  |  |  |  | 
Beginning of period | 137 | 276 | 417 | 413 | 431
New | — | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2
Refranchised | — | (135) | (178) | (1) | (21)
Closed | — | (5) | (15) | — | (6)
Acquired from franchisees | — | — | 50 | 1 | 7
End of period total | 137 | 137 | 276 | 417 | 413
% of system | 6% | 6% | 12% | 18% | 18%
Franchise restaurants: |  |  |  |  | 
Beginning of period | 2,100 | 1,975 | 1,838 | 1,836 | 1,819
New | 19 | 11 | 18 | 12 | 16
Refranchised | — | 135 | 178 | 1 | 21
Closed | (13) | (21) | (9) | (10) | (13)
Sold to company | — | — | (50) | (1) | (7)
End of period total | 2,106 | 2,100 | 1,975 | 1,838 | 1,836
% of system | 94% | 94% | 88% | 82% | 82%
System end of period total | 2,243 | 2,237 | 2,251 | 2,255 | 2,249


Question: What percentage of sales at company-operated restaurants are from drive-thru sales?
Answer: approximately 70%