Fantastic SamsFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Fantastic Sams franchise requires a total initial investment of $172K – $462K, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $323K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 22.2% charge-off rate across 537 loans[1]. Verdict grade: D. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 21, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $172K – $462K
- 14th pct Personal Care…
- Avg gross sales
- $323K
- 5th pct Personal Care…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 9th pct Personal Care…
- Units
- 512
- 44th pct Personal Care…
- SBA default
- 22.2%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Personal Care & Beauty · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Personal Care & Beauty avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
22.2% of SBA loans charged off across 537 loans, above the 16% franchise average.
Franchising since 1976. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
The system contracted 9% year-over-year. Investigate why units are closing.
Bottom line
- Total investment $172K – $462K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $323K/year (median $299K).
- Verdict D (Below Average) with a risk score of 72/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 22.2% across 537 loans (well above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- 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
- Legal entity
- Fantastic Sams Franchise Corporation
- Parent company
- Fantastic Sams International Corporation
- Ultimate parent
- Dessange Group North America, Inc.
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 6901 East Fish Lake Road, #140, Maple Grove, MN 55369
- Auditor
- Barclais CPA, LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $12.0M
- vs $10.2M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Affiliated brands
- Dessange Franchising
- Fantastic Sams Advertising Management
- C.Alb Franchising
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
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.
- Headquarters
- MN
- Founded
- 1974
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 34
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 12 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $40K | $40K | |
| Travel and Living Expense for New Owner On-Boarding and Trainingnot refundable | $2K | $3K | |
| Leasehold Improvements (including architectural fees)not refundable | $30K | $250K | |
| Rentnot refundable | $2K | $7K | |
| Utility Depositnot refundable | $500 | $2K | |
| Initial Salon Supply Haircare Product Inventorynot refundable | $10K | $15K | |
| Salon Equipmentnot refundable | $35K | $55K | |
| Other Equipment, Fixtures, and Furnishingsnot refundable | $2K | $4K | |
| New Salon Signagenot refundable | $8K | $15K | |
| Grand Opening Marketing Plan/Advertisingnot refundable | $10K | $15K | |
| Insurancenot refundable | $4K | $7K | |
| Additional Fundsnot refundable | $30K | $50K | |
| Total initial investment | $172K | $462K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$68K
21.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
19%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.3 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $172K – $462K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $30K – $50K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $10K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- $146
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $150 |
| Training fee | $500 |
| Transfer fee | $30K |
| Renewal fee | $1K |
| Inventory (initial) | $11K – $17K |
| Total fee load | 6.0% of rev |
A 6.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $323K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $299K
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 363 units
- vs category median 35 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $30K→$994K
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $150K→$544K
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 4 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Compared against 186 Personal Care & Beauty brands
vs Personal Care & Beauty averages
How Fantastic Sams Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 512
- Opened
- 7
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 30
- Terminated
- 9
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 22
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 5.9%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- -9.4%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- -16.6%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 37
- Transfer rate
- 7.2%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Continuity rate
- 89.4%
- Units that stayed open
- Termination rate
- 6.0%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 5.9%
- Units that stopped operating
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 contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- Minnesota
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 537
- Loan volume
- $74.9M
- Median loan
- $109K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 22.2%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 77.7%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 33.3%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 136
- Defaults
- 97
Vintage analysis
Fantastic Sams charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Fantastic Sams's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 32-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
A 22.2% charge-off rate means roughly 1 in 5 franchisees failed to repay their SBA loan. Investigate what changed.
Risk analysis
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.
Litigation (Item 3)
Three cases involving Fantastic Sams: (1) v. Linco LLC and former franchisees for non-compete violation and trademark misuse - settled with agreement to new franchise agreement; (2) v. KAK Enterprises LLC for non-compete violation - in abeyance pending resolution; (3) Envision Investments LLC and R.U.T. 13 LLC v. Fantastic Sam's Franchise Corp and others for franchise disclosure violations - filed July 2012 seeking over $300,000 each in damages
Largest disclosed settlement: $5
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Barclais CPA, LLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 72 / 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
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 0.5 mi |
| Territory population | 1,150,000 |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Delaware |
| Litigation count | 8 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Three cases involving Fantastic Sams: (1) v. Linco LLC and former franchisees for non-compete violation and trademark misuse - settled with agreement to new franchise agreement; (2) v. KAK Enterprises LLC for non-compete violation - in abeyance pending resolution; (3) Envision Investments LLC and R.U.T. 13 LLC v. Fantastic Sam's Franchise Corp and others for franchise disclosure violations - filed July 2012 seeking over $300,000 each in damages
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 28 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 0 hrs
- Training location
- Maple Grove, MN or alternative location or virtually
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Field support
- 0 hrs/yr
- On-site visits per year
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Zenoti
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Zenoti
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
100 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Fantastic Sams · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Fantastic Sams franchise?
The total investment to open a Fantastic Sams franchise ranges from $172K – $462K, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Fantastic Sams franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Fantastic Sams FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $323K. The median is $299K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Fantastic Sams's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Fantastic Sams has a charge-off rate of 22.2% across 537 loans, meaning 22.2% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Fantastic Sams franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Fantastic Sams has 512 total units in the United States, including 512 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 7 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Fantastic Sams a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Fantastic Sams as a D-grade franchise with a risk score of 72 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.