FranchiseVerdict
Town Square logo
FV-02773·MODERATEExcellent91

Town Square

Education - Children's ProgramsFranchising since 2024Website
Investment
$847K – $1.4M
85th pct Children's Pr…
Avg revenue
$1.0M
47th pct Children's Pr…
Royalty
7.0%
29th pct Children's Pr…
Units
8
32nd pct Children's Pr…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $847K – $1.4M including a $100K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.0M/year. Estimated payback in 6.9 years.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 57/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 20 loans (below the industry average).
  • Emerging franchise — only 2 years of franchising with 8 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Town Square Franchising LLC
Parent company
SH Town Square Franchising, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
9708 Belair Road, Perry Hall, Maryland 21236
Auditor
Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP
Audited financials

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 Town Square unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,042,343
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: $847K–$1.4M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $50K–$100K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

13%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$156K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$1.2M
Payback
92 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 Town Square 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

$1.7M

on $8.3M purchase

Total debt

$6.7M

SBA $4.2M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Town Square operates as a [retail/service/experience venue] model where franchisees manage day-to-day operations including customer service, inventory/scheduling, staff management, and local marketing within their protected territory. Franchisees are responsible for executing brand standards while generating revenue to cover the 7% royalty, operating expenses, and debt service on the substantial upfront capital investment.

CEO
Peter Ross
Founded
2023
FDD year
2024
States available
5

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$847K – $1.4M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$50K – $100K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$100K
Royalty
7.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
6.9 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.0M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
Item 19 type
Historical and Estimated
Sample size
1 units
vs category median 16 · small
Transparency
9 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank47th
vs Education - Children's Programs peers
Investment cost rank85th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank29th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank32th
vs Education - Children's Programs peers
Risk score rank38th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
8
Opened
2
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
88%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
9.1%
Net growth (yr3)
+40.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
Outlier (see FDD)
Likely small-sample artifact
2022
7+2
Franchised units
2023
5
Franchised units
2024
1
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 23 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 · 23 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
20
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

57
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE57 / 100

Early-stage, micro-system (8 units) with undisclosed franchisor financial distress, unvalidated unit economics, and net margins that may not support the 7% royalty burden.

Score breakdown · what drove the 57 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing Concern warning indicates financial instability at franchisor level despite franchise fee revenue
  2. 02MINOROnly 8 units with 40% YoY growth suggests very early/unproven system (could be volatile)
  3. 03MINORNet income of $161,949 on $1.04M revenue yields ~15.5% net margin—below typical retail/service benchmarks and concerning given 7% royalty burden
  4. 04MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representation limits ability to validate claimed average revenue figures
  5. 05MINORHigh initial investment ($847K-$1.39M) relative to small franchise base creates liquidity and support risk
  6. 06MINORSpread between low and high investment range suggests high variance in unit economics or unclear startup costs

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Circular boundary
Protected territory
Yes
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
Required
Governing law
Maryland

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
123 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
XCITE!
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

29 numbers

Locked
(404) 595-••••
GA
(860) 346-••••
CT
(401) 462-••••
RI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Town Square · FDD (2024) PDF

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