Museum of IllusionsFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Museum of Illusions franchise requires a total initial investment of $1.9M – $6.6M, including a $100K franchise fee and an ongoing 15.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $4.0M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $1.9M – $6.6M
- 40th pct Recreation & …
- Avg gross sales
- $4.0M
- 21st pct Recreation & …
- Royalty
- 15.0%
- 34th pct Recreation & …
- Units
- 20
- 24th pct Recreation & …
- SBA default
- N/A
Quick verdict · Recreation & Entertainment · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Recreation & Entertainment 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
Franchised units fell from 11 to 7 over 3 years. Investigate why operators are leaving.
28% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA). Within the 15-30% range most franchise investors consider acceptable.
Bottom line
- Total investment $1.9M – $6.6M including a $100K franchise fee, 15.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $4.0M/year (median $3.7M), with an estimated 28% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 46/100.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- RP Illusions, Corp.
- Parent company
- Metamorfoza d.o.o.
- Ultimate parent
- Invera Investments Cooperatief
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Kim Schaefer
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 7975 N. Hayden Road, Suite D-280, Scottsdale, Arizona 85258
- Auditor
- Anthony J. Cucciniello, CPA LLC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $18.6M
- vs $42.8M prior year
- Management churn noted
- Frequent turnover
- Item 2 disclosed frequent executive changes
Overview
About
Franchisees operate interactive illusion museums featuring hands-on exhibits, optical illusions, and immersive experiences. Day-to-day operations include ticket sales, visitor experience management, event/private rental coordination, merchandise sales, staff scheduling, facility maintenance, and marketing to drive foot traffic in leased retail spaces.
- CEO
- Kim Schaefer
- Headquarters
- AZ
- Founded
- 2017
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 16
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 17 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $100K | $100K | |
| Initial Training and Opening Assistance Expensesnot refundable | $15K | $20K | |
| Rent - 3 Monthsnot refundable | $30K | $250K | |
| Security Deposits | $20K | $1.0M | |
| Leasehold Improvementsnot refundable | $1.3M | $4.0M | |
| Exhibitsnot refundable | $200K | $450K | |
| Equipment, Furnishings and Fixturesnot refundable | $25K | $70K | |
| Computer Systemnot refundable | $2K | $15K | |
| Website Set-Upnot refundable | $8K | $8K | |
| Insurance - 3 Monthsnot refundable | $1K | $15K | |
| Permits and Licensesnot refundable | $5K | $50K | |
| Initial Inventory | $35K | $70K | |
| Signagenot refundable | $15K | $30K | |
| Grand Opening Advertisingnot refundable | $50K | $100K | |
| Architect and Design Feesnot refundable | $100K | $150K | |
| Professional Feesnot refundable | $5K | $25K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 monthsnot refundable | $75K | $200K | |
| Total initial investment | $1.9M | $6.6M |
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
$321K
8.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
7%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
13.6 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $1.9M – $6.6M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $75K – $200K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $100K – $100K
- Near category avg vs category
- Royalty
- 15.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 0.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 15.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 3.6 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 15.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 0.0% of gross sales |
| Training fee | $2K |
| Transfer fee | $50 |
| Inventory (initial) | $35K – $70K |
| Total fee load | 15.0% of rev |
At 15.0% total fee load, roughly $602K per year goes to the franchisor before you pay a single operating expense.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $4.0M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $3.7M
- Avg ebitda
- $1.2M
- Reported as EBITDA in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 27.5%
- Based on EBITDA / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- ebitda
- Sample size
- 14 units
- vs category median 5 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $352K→$9.9M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $2.9M→$4.1M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- limited
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 7 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 176 Recreation & Entertainment brands
Revenue is only 0.9x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Recreation & Entertainment averages
How Museum of Illusions Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 20
- Opened
- 1
- 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
- 9
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 55%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +10.0%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +57.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 1
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 1
- Franchisor bought back
- Projected new
- 5
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 17 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.
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.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Moderate-to-caution risk profile: emerging brand with unproven system maturity, opaque financial disclosures, aggressive multi-tiered royalties, and slow unit growth despite attractive unit-level returns.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed
Largest disclosed settlement: $150,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Anthony J. Cucciniello, 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 46 / 100 rating
- 01MINORHigh royalty burden: 15% + 15% + 5% creates complex multi-tier fee structure that could exceed 35% of total revenue in high-event locations
- 02MINORWide investment range ($1.9M–$6.5M) suggests inconsistent unit economics or significant geographic/format variability with unclear ROI drivers
- 03MEDModest unit growth of only 10% YoY with just 20 total units indicates slow franchise expansion and limited proven scalability
- 04MINORHigh initial franchise fee ($100K) combined with $1.9M+ startup cost creates significant downside risk if unit underperforms
- 05MEDNo Item 19 Financial Performance Representations disclosed — cannot independently verify the stated $4M revenue and $1.1M net income figures
- 06MINORExperiential venue model is location-dependent and vulnerable to post-pandemic traffic volatility, economic downturns, and tourism cycles
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 | Municipal boundaries |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 100 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 1 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Maricopa County, Arizona |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Arizona |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 0 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 49 hrs
- Training location
- franchised_business_location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- joint
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Eden and Roller softwares
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Eden and Roller softwares
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
18 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Museum of Illusions · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Museum of Illusions franchise?
The total investment to open a Museum of Illusions franchise ranges from $1.9M – $6.6M, with an initial franchise fee of $100K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Museum of Illusions franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Museum of Illusions FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $4.0M. The median is $3.7M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Museum of Illusions's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Museum of Illusions (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 Museum of Illusions franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Museum of Illusions has 20 total units in the United States, including 11 franchised units and 9 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Museum of Illusions a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Museum of Illusions as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 46 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.
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.