Palm Beach Beauty & Tan Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Palm Beach Tan is a personal-care franchise offering UV and spray tanning plus skincare and beauty products on a membership model. Franchisees run salons managing tanning services, memberships, and retail sales.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Palm Beach Beauty & Tan franchise requires a total initial investment of $648K – $1.1M, including a $5K – $30K franchise fee. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $527K[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $648K – $1.1M
- 54th pct Personal Care…
- Avg gross sales
- $527K
- 13th pct Personal Care…
- Royalty
- N/A
- Units
- 650
- 58th pct Personal Care…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Personal Care & Beauty · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Personal Care & Beauty 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 $648K – $1.1M including a $30K franchise fee.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $527K/year (median $484K).
- RISKVerdict A (Strongest tier), verdict score 60/100 (higher is better).
- TERMSNo protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Palm Beach Tan Franchising, Inc.
- Parent company
- Palm Beach Tan, Inc.
- Predecessor
- Palm Beach Tan (Legacy Brand)
- Prior franchisor entity
- CEO title
- President and Chief Operating Officer
- Daniel Caskey
- Incorporated in
- DE
- HQ
- 6321 Campus Circle Drive E., Irving, Texas 75063
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $17.0M
- vs $16.5M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
- CEO
- Daniel Caskey
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 2001
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 25
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 70% above the typical personal care & beauty franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown20 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $30K | $30K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $250K | $400K | |
| Prepaid Rent and Security Deposit | $5K | $18K | |
| Furniture and Fixtures | $53K | $77K | |
| Tanning and Related Equipment | $180K | $439K | |
| Computer Hardware and Software | $6K | $10K | |
| PBTV Mobile App | $50 | $50 | |
| Initial Inventory of Lotions, Solutions, and Supplies | $16K | $19K | |
| Signage | $7K | $16K | |
| Professional Services | $15K | $20K | |
| Utility Deposits and Permits | $60 | $5K | |
| Grand Opening | $10K | $10K | |
| In-Location Merchandising Kit | $3K | $5K | |
| Local Marketing Kit | $3K | $4K | |
| Initial Training | $3K | $5K | |
| Pre-Opening Training | $2K | $4K | |
| Music System with Installation | $3K | $4K | |
| Security System (includes CCTV system) | $2K | $3K | |
| Insurance | $2K | $5K | |
| Additional Funds | $60K | $60K | |
| Total initial investment | $648K | $1.1M |
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
- $648K – $1.1M
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $60K – $60K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $5K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 4% of Gross Sales for months 1-12; 5% of Gross Sales for …
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $300 |
| Training fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $16K – $19K |
| 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 34% below the personal care & beauty norm.
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
$116K
22.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
12%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
8.2 yrs
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 Palm Beach Beauty & Tan unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
12%
Below 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 Palm Beach Beauty & Tan units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.6M
on $7.9M purchase
Total debt
$6.3M
SBA $4.0M + 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
- Avg gross sales
- $527K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $484K
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
- 391 outlets
- vs category median 38 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $186K→$1.4M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- none
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 7 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 179 Personal Care & Beauty brands
Revenue is only 0.6x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
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 $527K/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 0.6x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 6.0% — below the Personal Care & Beauty average of 7.8%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 7/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 14.1% CAGR over 3 years across 650 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
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 Personal Care & Beauty averages
How Palm Beach Beauty & Tan Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 650
- Opened
- 7
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 8
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 2.0%
- Company-owned
- 253
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 61%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -0.3%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +14.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 7
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 8
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 6
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 4 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.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- California
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- New York
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Virginia
- Washington
- Wisconsin
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
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?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Declining system with unresolved litigation history, unprotected territory, escalating fees, and missing financial transparency creates meaningful investment risk in a mature beauty/tanning market.
Litigation (Item 3)
Sunless, Inc. v. Palm Beach Tan, Inc. and Palm Beach Tan Franchising, Inc. (N.D. Ohio, Case No. 1:22-cv-0090) - trademark/false advertising claims regarding Mystic Tan Kyss booths rebranded as Sunscape; settled confidentially in September 2024 with all claims dropped.
Largest disclosed settlement: $36,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Grant Thornton LLP
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 60 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-0.3% YoY) suggests system contraction and potential market saturation in beauty/tanning segment
- 02HIGH2.5-year litigation with competitor (2022-2024) over IP/rebranding creates brand uncertainty and suggests operational/marketing vulnerabilities
- 03MINORNo protected territory exposes franchisees to direct competition from other Palm Beach Tan units and cannibalizing same market
- 04MINOREscalating royalty structure (4%→5%→6%) reduces profitability over time; at 6% royalty on $496K avg revenue = $29.8K annual ongoing fees
- 05MINORItem 19 (Financial Performance) absent — cannot verify if average revenue/net income figures are representative or survivorship-biased
- 06MEDConfidential settlement terms unknown — potential undisclosed operational or rebranding requirements could impact franchisee costs/liability
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 | none |
| Protected territory | No |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| 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 | 5 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 60 days |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 6 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Texas |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | TX |
| Litigation count | 1 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
Sunless, Inc. v. Palm Beach Tan, Inc. and Palm Beach Tan Franchising, Inc. (N.D. Ohio, Case No. 1:22-cv-0090) - trademark/false advertising claims regarding Mystic Tan Kyss booths rebranded as Sunscape; settled confidentially in September 2024 with all claims dropped.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 58 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 340 hrs
- Training location
- Irving, Texas (corporate office) and/or other location designated by franchisor
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 5 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- SunLync
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: SunLync
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
100 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Palm Beach Beauty & Tan · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Palm Beach Beauty & Tan franchise?
The total investment to open a Palm Beach Beauty & Tan franchise ranges from $648K – $1.1M, with an initial franchise fee of $30K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Palm Beach Beauty & Tan franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Palm Beach Beauty & Tan FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $527K. The median is $484K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Palm Beach Beauty & Tan 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 Palm Beach Beauty & Tan FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Palm Beach Beauty & Tan's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Palm Beach Beauty & Tan (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 Palm Beach Beauty & Tan franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Palm Beach Beauty & Tan has 650 total units in the United States, including 397 franchised units and 253 company-owned units. 7 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Palm Beach Beauty & Tan a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Palm Beach Beauty & Tan as a A-grade franchise with a verdict score of 60 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.