Lovely Bride Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $250K – $600K
- Disclosed sales
- not disclosed
- SBA charge-off
- Limited · 11 loans
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Lovely Bride is a bridal boutique franchise selling wedding dresses from independent and modern designers by appointment. Franchisees run the boutiques, managing styling appointments, designer inventory, and alterations coordination.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Lovely Bride franchise requires a total initial investment of $250K – $600K, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 3.0% royalty[2]. This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: high - issued more than two years ago
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored5 of 5 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $250K – $600K
- 28th pct Retail
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Royalty
- 3.0%
- 1st pct Retail
- Units
- 19
- 12th pct Retail
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Retail · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Retail median · 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 $250K – $600K including a $25K franchise fee, 3.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSThis franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 54/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHPositive: net +1 franchised outlets in the latest year (0 opened, 0 closed) (Item 20).
- DATAThis franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Lovely Franchising LLC
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Lanie List
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- NY
- HQ
- PO Box 5240, Westport CT 06881
Overview
About
- CEO
- Lanie List
- Headquarters
- CT
- Founded
- 2012
- FDD year
- 2022
- States available
- 11
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 27% above the typical retail franchise.
Source: FDD 2022 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $25K | $25K | |
| Office Development, Construction and Leasehold Improvements | $25K | $165K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment | $40K | $140K | |
| Signage (Interior and Exterior) | $5K | $10K | |
| Computer and Software System | $4K | $8K | |
| Opening Inventory | $115K | $150K | |
| Rent Deposits | $5K | $30K | |
| Utility Deposits | $500 | $1K | |
| Insurance Deposits and Premiums | $2K | $5K | |
| Pre-opening Travel Expense | $2K | $4K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising | $5K | $15K | |
| Professional Fees | $5K | $8K | |
| Business Permits and Licenses | $500 | $3K | |
| Printing, Stationery and Office Supplies | $2K | $7K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Months | $15K | $30K | |
| Total initial investment | $250K | $600K |
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
- $250K – $600K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $25K – $25K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 3.0%
- Tiered by sales volume · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 4.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 3.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% |
| Technology fee | $0 |
| Training fee | $250 |
| Transfer fee | $13K |
| Renewal fee | $6K |
| Inventory (initial) | $115K – $150K |
| Total fee load | 4.0% of rev |
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
Lovely Bride makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD - a voluntary item under the FTC Franchise Rule - so no unit revenue figures are disclosed. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Lovely Bride unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for annual revenue, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
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: 2022 FDD
Financial Performance
No financial performance representation
This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that.
Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 4.0% — below the Retail median of 8.0%.
Disclosure
This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Operator retention
System expanding at 7.1% CAGR over 3 years across 19 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Multi-unit rate
50% of franchisees own multiple units, a moderate multi-unit rate.
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 Retail medians
How Lovely Bride Compares
Category median of published Retail brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2022 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 19
- 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
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 4
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 79%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 50.0%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +7.1%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +7.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- 0.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 2
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Continuity rate
- 107.1%
- Units that stayed open
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 11 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
11
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 11
- Loan volume
- $9.7M
- Median loan
- $248K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- Limited · 11 loans
- Limited SBA coverage: 11 loans, rate hidden until 10 have resolved and loans reach 2% of franchised units
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Limited · 11 loans
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 9
- Defaults
- 0
- Typical loan rate
- 7.0%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 16.7%
- n=159 loans
- Jobs supported
- 81
- 0.8 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 20%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 70% went to startups / new businesses, 30% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in other clothing stores, franchised businesses charge off at 16.7% vs 25.9% for independents — franchising is associated with 36% lower SBA default risk in this category.
Top lenders financing Lovely Bride franchisees
Showing 3 of 9 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Lender network · 7(a) + 504
SBA Lending Report
Full lending analysis for Lovely Bride from SBA 7(a) FOIA data.
- Principal loss rate
- 0.0%
- Avg SBA guarantee
- 78%
- Avg interest rate
- 7.01%
- Lender concentration
- 20.0%
- Job velocity
- 0.8 per $100K
- NAICS benchmark
- 4.3%
- NAICS 448190
- Jobs supported
- 81
Top SBA lendersTop lender holds 20% of loans
| # | Lender | Loans | Volume | Default % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brookline Bank, a Division of Beacon Bank and Trust | 2 | $2.2M | N/A |
| 2 | Stearns Bank National Association | 1 | $350K | 0.0% |
| 3 | First Commonwealth Bank | 1 | $125K | N/A |
| 4 | Pinnacle Bank | 1 | $5.0M | 0.0% |
| 5 | Florida Capital Bank, National Association | 1 | $349K | 0.0% |
| 6 | U.S. Bank, National Association | 1 | $45K | 0.0% |
| 7 | The Community Bank | 1 | $115K | N/A |
| 8 | First Savings Bank | 1 | $1.2M | N/A |
| 9 | North State Bank | 1 | $148K | N/A |
Geographic failure vector
| State | Loans | Defaults | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| COColorado | 2 | 0 | 0.0% |
| NYNew York | 2 | 0 | -- |
| OHOhio | 2 | 0 | -- |
| CACalifornia | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
| DCWashington DC | 1 | 0 | -- |
| FLFlorida | 1 | 0 | -- |
| NHNew Hampshire | 1 | 0 | 0.0% |
SBA 7(a) lending trend
Borrower profile
Source: SBA 7(a) + 504 FOIA loan-level data, matched by FranchiseVerdict
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Lovely Bride presents moderate-to-cautionary risk due to complete lack of financial performance transparency (no Item 19), unclear unit economics across a 2.4x investment range, and anemic unit growth that may indicate market challenges or franchisee satisfaction issues.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- 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 54 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosed (Item 19 missing) — impossible to validate ROI on $250k-$600k investment
- 02MEDSlow unit growth of 7.1% YoY with only 19 locations suggests limited brand momentum or market saturation concerns
- 03MINORRoyalty structure escalates to 5% by year 3, reducing profitability for mature locations while franchisor extracts increasing value
- 04MINORWide investment range ($250k-$600k) without corresponding revenue data creates uncertainty about unit economics and payback period
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 4.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2022 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 45 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 13 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | New York, NY |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | NY |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 32 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 28 hrs
- Training location
- Franchisee location and/or affiliate-owned Lovely Bride store
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 2 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects, franchisor approves
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Order Management System (proprietary)
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Order Management System (proprietary)
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Lovely Bride franchise?
The total investment to open a Lovely Bride franchise ranges from $250K – $600K, with an initial franchise fee of $25K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Lovely Bride franchise owners earn?
Lovely Bride makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD - a voluntary item under the FTC Franchise Rule - so no unit revenue figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Lovely Bride?
Lovely Bride is franchised by Lovely Franchising LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2022 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Lovely Bride 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 Lovely Bride FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Lovely Bride's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Lovely Bride (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 Lovely Bride franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Lovely Bride has 19 total units in the United States, including 15 franchised units and 4 company-owned units.
Is Lovely Bride a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Lovely Bride as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 54 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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
Are you the franchisor?
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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.