FranchiseVerdict
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FV-01950·STRONGExcellent91

Pigtails & Crewcuts

Education - Children's ProgramsFranchising since 2005Website
Investment
$130K – $283K
43rd pct Children's Pr…
Avg revenue
$324K
23rd pct Children's Pr…
Royalty
5.0%
7th pct Children's Pr…
Units
80
84th pct Children's Pr…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $130K – $283K including a $30K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $324K/year (median $311K).
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 44/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 53 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Pigtails & Crewcuts Franchise, LLC
Incorporated in
Georgia
HQ
3495 Piedmont Road, Suite 402, Building 11, Atlanta, Georgia 30305
Auditor
Symphona LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.8M
vs $2.0M 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 Pigtails & Crewcuts unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $324,186
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: education
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $130K–$283K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $5K–$15K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

24%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$52K
EBITDA margin
16.0%
Total invested
$217K
Payback
50 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Pigtails & Crewcuts units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$584K

on $2.9M purchase

Total debt

$2.3M

SBA $1.5M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Franchisees operate children's salon locations offering haircuts, styling, and grooming services in a play-based, entertainment-focused environment. Daily operations include staff scheduling/training, inventory management (hair products, supplies), customer booking/retention, and maintaining branded cleanliness/safety standards. Most locations are high-traffic retail requiring significant labor costs and lease commitments.

CEO
Wade H. Brannon, Jr.
Founded
2002
FDD year
2025
States available
23

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$130K – $283K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$5K – $15K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
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

Avg gross sales
$324K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$311K
Item 19 type
Average and Median Gross Sales
Sample size
75 units
vs category median 16 · large
Range (low → high)
$63K$642K
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank23th
vs Education - Children's Programs peers
Investment cost rank43th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank7th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank84th
vs Education - Children's Programs peers
Risk score rank3th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
80
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
1
Turnover rate
1.3%
Company-owned
2
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
98%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
20.8%
Net growth (yr3)
+2.6%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+13.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
78+2
Franchised units
2024
76
Franchised units
2025
69
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 24 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 · 24 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
53
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

44
Risk · 0-100
STRONG44 / 100

Small, slowly-growing children's haircut franchise with opaque unit economics, no disclosed net income data, and minimal financial transparency raises questions about franchisee ROI and system sustainability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD — unable to validate actual profitability or ROI against $130k-$283k investment
  2. 02MEDAnemic unit growth of 2.6% YoY suggests market saturation or franchisee struggles; 80 units is small system with limited scale advantages
  3. 03MINORAverage revenue of $324k against 5% royalty + operating costs (rent, staff, inventory) leaves questionable margin — no Item 19 financial performance representation to verify
  4. 04MINORWide investment range ($153k spread) indicates highly variable startup costs and unit economics; lack of transparency on what drives this variance
  5. 05HIGHGoing Concern status is False but franchisor profitability/runway not disclosed — insufficient information on corporate financial health

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 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
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Georgia

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
27 hrs
On-the-job training
5 hrs

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

78 numbers

Locked
(503) 336-••••
Fahmida Irin
OR
(336) 997-••••
Angel Putnam
NC
(501) 358-••••
Wade Griffin
AR

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Pigtails & Crewcuts · FDD (2025) PDF

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