FranchiseVerdict
Garage Living logo
FV-01038·STRONGExcellent91

Garage Living

Home Services - OtherFranchising since 2015Website
Investment
$122K – $322K
56th pct Other
Avg revenue
$1.6M
53rd pct Other
Royalty
6.5%
34th pct Other
Units
51
55th pct Other
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $122K – $322K including a $60K franchise fee, 6.5% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.6M/year (median $1.4M).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 31 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 19.5% CAGR over 3 years with 51 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Garage Living Franchise Systems USA, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
201 Chrislea Road, Vaughan, Ontario, Canada L4L 8N6

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 Garage Living unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,599,240
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: $122K–$322K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$50K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

67%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$168K
EBITDA margin
10.5%
Total invested
$252K
Payback
18 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Garage Living units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$1.1M

on $5.6M purchase

Total debt

$4.5M

SBA $2.8M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Garage Living franchisees operate garage organization, storage solutions, and home improvement retail/installation businesses serving residential customers. Day-to-day operations include design consultations, product sales, installation services, customer relationship management, and territory-based marketing to build recurring revenue from organizing and upgrading garage spaces.

CEO
Aaron Cash
Founded
2014
FDD year
2025
States available
26

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$122K – $322K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $50K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$60K
Royalty
6.5%
Mixed: Percentage of revenue (Primary) or fixed monthly fee (Secondary) · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.5%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.6M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.4M
Item 19 type
Historical Average Gross Sales, COGS, and Labor Costs
Sample size
29 units
vs category median 21
Range (low → high)
$444K$3.8M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
7 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank53th
vs Home Services - Other peers
Investment cost rank56th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank34th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank55th
vs Home Services - Other peers
Risk score rank30th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
51
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
3
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
94%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-2.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+19.5%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
49-1
Franchised units
2024
50
Franchised units
2025
41
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 18 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 · 18 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
31
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

52
Risk · 0-100
STRONG52 / 100

Declining unit base, undisclosed profitability, active litigation, and opaque royalty structure create material risk despite solid average revenue figures.

Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORUnit count declining 2.0% YoY (51 units) indicates shrinking system momentum despite $1.6M average revenue
  2. 02MEDNo disclosed average net income makes ROI calculation impossible; cannot verify $121.5K-$321.6K investment justifies 5-year term
  3. 03HIGHActive litigation by franchisor against former franchisees over post-term covenants suggests enforcement disputes and potential franchisee dissatisfaction
  4. 04MINORDual royalty structure ($2K/month secondary markets) lacks transparency on which territories qualify and expected franchisee volume
  5. 05MEDHigh franchise fee ($60K) + investment range ($121.5K-$321.6K) combined with unit decline raises sustainability concerns

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
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Not allowed
Litigation count
2
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
Required
Governing law
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
21 hrs
On-the-job training
82 hrs
POS system
Cabinetvision, GLMS platform
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

42 numbers

Locked
(832) 280-••••
TX
(778) 379-••••
WI
(630) 300-••••
GA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Garage Living · FDD (2025) PDF

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