FranchiseVerdict
European Wax Center logo
FV-00877·STRONGExcellent86

European Wax Center

Personal Services - Beauty & SalonFranchising since 2006Website
Investment
$328K – $837K
63rd pct Beauty & Salon
Avg revenue
70th pct Beauty & Salon
Royalty
6.0%
18th pct Beauty & Salon
Units
1,067
96th pct Beauty & Salon
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $328K – $837K including a $45K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 51/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 412 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
EWC Franchisor LLC
Parent company
European Wax Center, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
5830 Granite Parkway, Suite 300, Plano, Texas 75024
Auditor
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$221.0M
vs $216.9M 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 European Wax Center 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: personal services
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $328K–$837K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $45K–$75K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

25%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$158K
EBITDA margin
21.0%
Total invested
$642K
Payback
49 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

Franchisees operate full-service wax centers offering body waxing, eyebrow, and hair removal services to walk-in and appointment-based clientele. Daily operations involve staff management (typically 3-8 employees), scheduling, inventory of waxing supplies, customer service, and facility maintenance in leased salon spaces.

CEO
Chris Morris
Founded
2022
FDD year
2025
States available
45

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$328K – $837K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$45K – $75K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$45K
Royalty
6.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
3.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
9.0%
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
1,067
Opened
43
Last reporting year
Closed
20
Turnover rate
1.9%
Company-owned
5
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+2.3%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+13.2%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
1,062+24
Franchised units
2024
1,038
Franchised units
2025
938
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 12 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
Registered · 12 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
412
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

51
Risk · 0-100
STRONG51 / 100

Mature wax center franchise with opaque unit economics, minimal growth momentum, and active litigation across multiple domains requires rigorous franchisee validation before committing $327k+ investment.

Score breakdown · what drove the 51 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosure prevents accurate ROI assessment on $327k-$836k investment
  2. 02MINORStagnant unit growth (2.3% YoY) suggests market saturation or franchisee satisfaction issues in 1067-unit system
  3. 03HIGHMultiple active litigations including governmental investigation into non-poaching provisions indicate compliance/culture risks
  4. 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($509k median) with 6% royalty creates tight breakeven margins without revenue transparency
  5. 05MINORFranchise termination arbitration (Worley Wax) and vendor disputes signal operational/relationship friction

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius/Boundaries
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
5
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
Texas

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
63 hrs
On-the-job training
83 hrs
POS system
Violet (utilizing software from Zenoti)
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

98 numbers

Locked
(732) 389-••••
NJ
(281) 466-••••
TX
(781) 558-••••
MA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

European Wax Center · FDD (2025) PDF

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