FranchiseVerdict
PET DEPOT logo
FV-01928·MODERATEStandard76FDD 2022

Pet Depot

Personal Services - Pet CareFranchising since 2002Website
Investment
$178K – $914K
50th pct Pet Care
Avg revenue
62nd pct Pet Care
Royalty
5.0%
12th pct Pet Care
Units
29
60th pct Pet Care
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $178K – $914K including a $45K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 67/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 17 loans (below the industry average).
  • System contracting at -6.9% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Labrador Franchises, Inc.
Parent company
null
Incorporated in
California
HQ
1941 Foothill Boulevard, Suite A, La Verne, California 91750
Auditor
GTL, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.0M
vs $1.1M 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 PET DEPOT 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: automotive
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $178K–$914K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$60K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

23%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$135K
EBITDA margin
18.0%
Total invested
$581K
Payback
52 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

Pet Depot franchisees operate retail pet supply stores, managing inventory of food, toys, grooming supplies, and pet care products. Day-to-day operations include customer service, staff management, merchandising, and potentially ancillary services like basic grooming or pet training classes. Franchisees must maintain brand standards and comply with franchisor purchasing requirements while remitting 5% of gross sales as royalties.

CEO
Roman D. Versch
Founded
2001
FDD year
2022
States available
13

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$178K – $914K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $60K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$45K
Royalty
5.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
vs 9–13% typical

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
29
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
2
Turnover rate
6.9%
Company-owned
2
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
93%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
50.0%
Net growth (yr3)
-3.6%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-6.9%
Compounded over last 3 years
2020
27-1
Franchised units
2021
28
Franchised units
2022
29
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 27 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 · 27 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
17
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

67
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE67 / 100

Pet Depot exhibits high-risk characteristics: a contracting 29-unit system with zero financial transparency, unprotected territories, unclear going concern status, and a highly variable investment structure that obscures true costs and profitability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 67 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORDeclining unit count (-3.6% YoY) indicates system contraction and potential market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
  2. 02MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (Avg Revenue/Net Income not disclosed) prevents accurate ROI modeling and suggests franchisor may be hiding poor unit economics
  3. 03MINORWide investment range ($177.5K–$913.5K) with no clarity on what drives 5x variance, indicating inconsistent site costs or hidden expenses
  4. 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk; multiple franchisees in same area will cannibalize sales and reduce individual unit profitability
  5. 05HIGHGoing Concern status = False is ambiguous (should be True for healthy franchisor); potential financial instability of parent company threatens franchisee support
  6. 06MED5% royalty on undisclosed gross sales creates blind spot; unable to verify if 5% is competitive or if franchisees are actually profitable at that rate
  7. 07MED29 total units is extremely small system with limited brand recognition, economies of scale, or supply chain negotiating power

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 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
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
40 hrs
On-the-job training
131 hrs
POS system
Lightspeed / Day Smart
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

49 numbers

Locked
(818) 981-••••
Barry Kurtz, Esq. Lewitt, Hackman, Shapiro, Marshall and Harlan, A Law Corporation
CA
(626) 335-••••
Labrador Franchises, Inc.
CA
(505) 290-••••
Armando Suniga
MN

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

PET DEPOT · FDD (2022) PDF

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