Clothes Mentor Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Clothes Mentor franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2025), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Clothes Mentor discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it C.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Provides 3-year average Net Sales ($744K-$780K) and Gross Profit margins (67%). Excludes temporarily closed stores and recently opened stores. Shows quartile data with extensive caveats.
What a Clothes Mentor franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $25,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 4% of gross sales | Item 6 — charged on revenue, not profit |
| Advertising fund | 5% of gross sales | Item 6 — brand marketing, spent at the franchisor's discretion |
| Total recurring fees | 9% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $305,000 – $428,500 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
4% royalty; 5% minimum local advertising; $2K/year NMF (up to $3K); 2% e-commerce fee. Transfer fee: 1/3 current initial fee.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Clothes Mentor system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 113 |
| Ceased operations | 7 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 1 |
| Transferred to new owners | 5 |
| Closure rate | 6.2% of outlets |
7 closures in 2024; 5 transfers; declining system from 125 stores in 2022 to 113 in 2024.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2025. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Clothes Mentor worth it? — how it compares to 59 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 9% of sales | steeper than 67% of retail & business services franchises |
| Startup cost | from $305,000 | pricier than 82% of peers |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade C | typical for the category |
| Closure rate | 6.2% of outlets | worse than 64% of peers |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 2 | more litigious than 72% of peers |
Benchmarked against every retail & business services franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Clothes Mentor
The franchisor's framing: Provides 3-year average Net Sales ($744K-$780K) and Gross Profit margins (67%). Excludes t… We reconstruct what an owner actually keeps, from their own FDD.
- Reconstructed owner P&L — net take-home after royalty, ad fund, rent, labor & debt
- Break-even timeline + cash-on-cash ROI
- Full fee stack + required-purchase markups
- Decoded real failure / closure rate
- How it ranks vs comparable franchises
- Validation-call playbook — the exact questions to ask
See a full sample report → · 30-day guarantee
Clothes Mentor franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Clothes Mentor franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $305,000–$428,500, including a $25,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Clothes Mentor franchise owners make?
- Provides 3-year average Net Sales ($744K-$780K) and Gross Profit margins (67%). Excludes temporarily closed stores and recently opened stores. Shows quartile data with extensive caveats. We grade this disclosure C for honesty.
- What are the Clothes Mentor franchise fees?
- Clothes Mentor's FDD discloses a $25,000 initial franchise fee, a 4% royalty on gross sales, a 5% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 9% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. 4% royalty; 5% minimum local advertising; $2K/year NMF (up to $3K); 2% e-commerce fee. Transfer fee: 1/3 current initial fee.
- What is the Clothes Mentor franchise profit margin?
- Clothes Mentor does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Provides 3-year average Net Sales ($744K-$780K) and Gross Profit margins (67%). Excludes temporarily closed stores and recently opened stores. Shows quartile data with extensive caveats. Recurring fees alone take about 9% of gross sales, before rent, labor, food or debt service. Margin has to be reconstructed from the disclosure, not read off it.
- What is the Clothes Mentor franchise failure rate?
- 7 closures in 2024; 5 transfers; declining system from 125 stores in 2022 to 113 in 2024.
- How many Clothes Mentor locations are there?
- Clothes Mentor's FDD reports 113 total outlets, with 7 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 5 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Clothes Mentor have complaints or lawsuits?
- Clothes Mentor discloses 2 legal matters in Item 3 of its FDD. Item 3 covers the franchisor's litigation history, which is the closest thing to a public record of how it treats franchisees — read the case descriptions, not just the count.
- Is a Clothes Mentor franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Clothes Mentor scores C on disclosure honesty, carries about 9% of sales in ongoing fees, and discloses 2 legal matters. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Clothes Mentor to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 33548-202504-02 (Clean FDD 2025). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Clothes Mentor or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.