Fantastic Sams
Bottom line
- Total investment $172K – $462K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $323K/year (median $299K).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 124 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -16.6% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 Fantastic Sams unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
19%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Fantastic Sams units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$905K
on $4.5M purchase
Total debt
$3.6M
SBA $2.3M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate full-service hair salons offering haircuts, styling, and color services to walk-in and appointment-based customers. Day-to-day operations include staff management, inventory control, customer service, and adherence to Fantastic Sams' service protocols and pricing standards. Franchisees are responsible for local marketing, facility maintenance, payroll, and achieving sales targets to support the 6% royalty obligation.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 4 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).
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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Fantastic Sams presents HIGH RISK due to declining unit count, unresolved litigation over disclosure accuracy, missing financial disclosure, and inability to demonstrate attractive returns on a substantial initial investment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating
- 01MINORSystem declining 9.4% YoY with 512 units — significant contraction suggests weakening brand demand and franchisee profitability challenges
- 02MINOREight active legal actions including franchisor-initiated breach/non-compete cases and franchisee claims of disclosure deficiencies and misrepresentation — indicates trust breakdown and potential systemic issues
- 03MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — inability or unwillingness to provide earnings data is major red flag for ROI transparency and may indicate poor franchisee performance
- 04MEDHigh initial investment ($171.5K-$462K) with only $323K average revenue and undisclosed net profit — ROI and payback period cannot be validated
- 05HIGHOngoing litigation over disclosure adequacy suggests franchisor may have misrepresented opportunity to previous franchisees — risk of similar claims against new franchisee
- 06MINOR10-year term is long-duration commitment into a shrinking system with no clear growth strategy or turnaround narrative
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Fantastic Sams · FDD (2025) PDF