House of Core Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
House of Core is a boutique fitness franchise offering core-focused Pilates and conditioning classes. Franchisees run the studios, managing instructors, class scheduling, and membership growth.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A House of Core franchise requires a total initial investment of $211K – $326K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $440K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: C (Average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $211K – $326K
- 40th pct Health & Fitn…
- Avg gross sales
- $440K
- Company-owned only1 outlet12th pct Health & Fitn…
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 1st pct Health & Fitn…
- Units
- 1
- 3rd pct Health & Fitn…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Health & Fitness · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Health & Fitness avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $211K – $326K including a $50K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $440K/year (company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance).
- RISKVerdict C (Average), verdict score 40/100 (higher is better).
- FLAGAuditor disclosed a going-concern note, which flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Morning Management LLC
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Wendy Wilcox
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- CA
- HQ
- 2934 1/2 Beverly Glen Circle No. 108, Los Angeles, CA 90077
- Auditor
- Divine, Blalock, Martin & Sellari, LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $22K
- Most recent fiscal year
- ⚠ Going-concern note
- Disclosed in FDD 2025
- Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Wendy Wilcox
- Headquarters
- CA
- Founded
- 2024
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 0
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 53% below the typical health & fitness franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown22 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $50K | $50K | |
| Construction and Leasehold Improvements | $8K | $50K | |
| Lease Deposit and Rent - Three Months | $14K | $31K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment | $2K | $13K | |
| Studio Equipment | $65K | $75K | |
| Signage | $500 | $3K | |
| Grand Opening Marketing | $2K | $2K | |
| Initial Retail Starter Package | $4K | $4K | |
| Initial Lobby Area Package | $3K | $3K | |
| Initial Bathroom Package | $1K | $1K | |
| Initial Studio Area Package | $2K | $2K | |
| Initial Retail Area Package | $4K | $4K | |
| Initial Props Package | $2K | $2K | |
| Technology Package | $4K | $4K | |
| Technology Fee | $2K | $2K | |
| Opening Inventory and Supplies | $500 | $500 | |
| Utility Deposits | $100 | $350 | |
| Insurance Deposits - Three Months | $375 | $500 | |
| Training Expenses | $0 | $1K | |
| Professional Fees | $3K | $16K | |
| Total initial investment | $211K | $326K |
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.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $211K – $326K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $45K – $60K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- tiered · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $475 |
| Training fee | $500 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $25 |
| 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.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 28% below the health & fitness norm.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Based on a single outlet - not a system average
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
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
$141K
32.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
44%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
27 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one House of Core unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
44%
Within the 30–60% "attractive franchise" band
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 House of Core units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
44.4%
6.27× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.99×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$2.7M
on $11.0M purchase
Total debt
$8.3M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Based on a single outlet - not a system average
- Avg gross sales
- $440K
- Per unit, per year
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross revenue
- Sample size
- 1 outlet
- vs category median 12 · small
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 3 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · below
Compared against 173 Health & Fitness brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $440K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.6x. Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 6.0% — below the Health & Fitness average of 8.4%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 3/10 — moderate disclosure depth. Average and range data are available but detailed cohort breakdowns may be limited. Sample size of 1 outlet — treat as directional only.
Multi-unit rate
Only 1% of franchisees own multiple units. Could indicate challenging economics or a young system where operators haven't had time to expand.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Health & Fitness averages
How House of Core Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 1
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 1
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 0%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 1.0%
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 0
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 1
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What could kill this investment?
The auditor flagged going-concern doubt (Item 21) — the single biggest risk here.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
High-risk opportunity with critical transparency gaps: a single-unit system, undisclosed profitability, franchisor going concern issues, and escalating royalties create substantial uncertainty about franchisee ROI and franchisor stability.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Divine, Blalock, Martin & Sellari, LLCⓘ Going-concern language present, but this is an early-stage franchisor with limited operating history — common for new systems and not necessarily a sign of distress.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 40 / 100 verdict
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — franchisor may have financial viability issues or undisclosed structural problems
- 02MEDOnly 1 unit in system — suggests either brand is brand new, failed to scale, or data is incomplete; impossible to validate growth trajectory or system health
- 03MINORRoyalty structure escalates 80% (5% to 9%) — franchisee profitability deteriorates materially in years 4-6, creating retention/sustainability risk
- 04MEDNo litigation disclosed but Going Concern is FALSE — suggests potential undisclosed disputes, regulatory issues, or franchisor financial stress
- 05MINORUnknown unit growth — no historical AUV trends, no disclosure of openings/closures; cannot assess market viability
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 6.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 50 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Los Angeles County, California |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | CA |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 70 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 45 hrs
- Training location
- Virtually or another location franchisor designates including franchisee's Approved Location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects, franchisor approves
- POS system
- Walla
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Walla
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
1 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
House of Core · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a House of Core franchise?
The total investment to open a House of Core franchise ranges from $211K – $326K, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do House of Core franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the House of Core FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $440K. Important context: Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance; Based on a single outlet - not a system average. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the House of Core FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the House of Core FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is House of Core's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for House of Core (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many House of Core franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, House of Core has 1 total units in the United States, including 0 franchised units and 1 company-owned units.
Is House of Core a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates House of Core as a C-grade franchise with a verdict score of 40 out of 100 (higher is better), 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.
For franchisors
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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.