FranchiseVerdict
Ace Hardware Painting Services logo
FV-00065·MODERATEExcellent86

Ace Hardware Painting Services

Home Services - PaintingFranchising since 2022Website
Investment
$89K – $153K
38th pct Painting
Avg revenue
62nd pct Painting
Royalty
6.0%
10th pct Painting
Units
3
5th pct Painting
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $89K – $153K including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 1259 loans (below the industry average).
  • No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Ace Painting Franchising, LLC
Parent company
Ace Services Holdings LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
390 Union Boulevard, Suite 520, Lakewood, Colorado 80228
Auditor
Ernst & Young LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$9.2B
vs $9.1B prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one Ace Hardware Painting Services unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restoration
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $89K–$153K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $15K–$25K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

59%

In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$83K
EBITDA margin
11.0%
Total invested
$141K
Payback
21 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Ace Hardware Painting Services franchisees operate residential and commercial painting operations under the Ace Hardware brand umbrella, leveraging the parent company's retail distribution network and brand recognition. Day-to-day activities include managing painting crews, scheduling jobs, sourcing materials through Ace locations, customer acquisition, and quality control. Franchisees assume full operational responsibility while paying 6% royalties on gross revenues to corporate.

CEO
Andy Bell
Founded
2021
FDD year
2024
States available
3

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$89K – $153K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$15K – $25K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$50K
Royalty
6.0%
Gross Revenues · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
3
Opened
2
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
3
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
2022
0+2
Franchised units
2023
0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 20 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Available · 20 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
1,259
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

64
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE64 / 100

Micro-system with undisclosed financials, parent company litigation involving fraud allegations, unclear growth potential, and going concern questions makes this a high-risk investment unsuitable for most franchisees.

Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINOROnly 3 operating units with unknown growth trajectory suggests minimal system traction and high failure risk
  2. 02HIGHParent company litigation history includes fraud and disclosure violation allegations, creating reputational and legal exposure
  3. 03MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosure (missing Item 19) prevents ability to validate ROI on $89k-$153k investment
  4. 04MINORHigh royalty burden at 6% with no performance benchmarks or profitability thresholds for franchisees
  5. 05HIGHGoing Concern status as 'False' indicates potential financial instability at corporate level
  6. 06MEDExtremely small franchise base (3 units) with 10-year commitment creates concentration risk and limited peer support

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Household-based defined by zip codes
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
3
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Colorado

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
20 hrs
On-the-job training
56 hrs
POS system
Ace Hardware Painting Services proprietary business operations software
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

24 numbers

Locked
(217) 782-••••
IL
(801) 530-••••
UT
(503) 378-••••
OR

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Ace Hardware Painting Services · FDD (2024) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above