FranchiseVerdict
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FV-01360·CAUTIONStandard71FDD 2022

Johnstone Supply

Home Services - Plumbing & HVACFranchising since 2021Website
Investment
$808K – $3.4M
100th pct Plumbing & HV…
Avg revenue
63rd pct Plumbing & HV…
Royalty
Units
426
96th pct Plumbing & HV…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $808K – $3.4M including a $60K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 69/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 3 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
Johnstone Supply, LLC
Parent company
Redwood Holdings, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
11632 NE Ainsworth Circle, Portland, OR 97220
Auditor
Grant Thornton LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$681.3M
vs $853.4M 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 JOHNSTONE SUPPLY 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: restoration
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $808K–$3.4M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $200K–$400K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

4%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$98K
EBITDA margin
13.0%
Total invested
$2.4M
Payback
296 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

Johnstone Supply franchisees operate as wholesale distributors of HVAC, plumbing, and mechanical systems to contractors and service professionals. Day-to-day operations involve managing inventory, fulfilling orders, handling customer service, and managing relationships with regional contractors who depend on rapid parts availability and technical expertise.

CEO
Lance Devin
Founded
1981
FDD year
2022
States available
47

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$808K – $3.4M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$200K – $400K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$60K
Royalty
n/d
Ad fund
0.0%
typical 3–5%

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
426
Opened
6
Last reporting year
Closed
19
Turnover rate
4.5%
Company-owned
17
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
96%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-2.7%
Net unit change last year
2020
426-12
Franchised units
2021
438
Franchised units
2022
0
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 11 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 · 11 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
3
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

69
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION69 / 100

Johnstone Supply presents moderate-to-high risk due to declining unit count, missing financial disclosure, opaque fee structure, and high capital requirements in a thin-margin industry.

Score breakdown · what drove the 69 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORUnit count declining 2.7% YoY suggests system contraction and potential market saturation or franchisee struggles
  2. 02MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI validation and raises transparency concerns
  3. 03MINORWide investment range ($808K–$3.4M, 321% spread) indicates highly variable unit economics and unclear cost structure
  4. 04MINORRoyalty rate unknown despite significant franchise fee ($60K) suggests opaque fee structure
  5. 05MINOR7-year term is relatively short, creating renewal uncertainty and limiting franchisee asset amortization period
  6. 06MEDIndustrial/HVAC supply distribution is capital-intensive with thin margins; high investment coupled with undisclosed profitability is concerning

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Zip Code
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
7 years
Renewal term
3 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
0 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
DDI Inform, Epicor Eclipse, or Infor SXe
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

95 numbers

Locked
(203) 882-••••
CT
(561) 572-••••
FL
(510) 285-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

JOHNSTONE SUPPLY · FDD (2022) PDF

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