Drybar Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Drybar franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2025), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Drybar discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it C.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Discloses 2024 average/median revenue by tenure cohort (all 146 shops: avg $855,793; 5-yr+ avg $1,017,847) plus member counts and conversion rates. No costs, expenses, or net income disclosed; excludes 13 closed shops.
What a Drybar franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 7% of gross sales | Item 6 — charged on revenue, not profit |
| Advertising fund | 2% 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 | $409,979 – $1,029,249 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
Additional 2% local spend + $2,000/mo local ad fee; $20,000 grand opening fee; $775/mo technology fee.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Drybar system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 176 |
| Ceased operations | 0 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 13 |
| Transferred to new owners | 6 |
| Closure rate | 0.0% of outlets |
13 terminations in 2024; NY market shrank from 24 to 13 shops over 3 years.
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 Drybar worth it? — how it compares to 47 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 9% of sales | steeper than 62% of hair, beauty & personal care franchises |
| Startup cost | from $409,979 | pricier than 63% of peers |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade C | less honest than most of the category |
| Closure rate | 0.0% of outlets | better than most (median 0.0%) |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 1 | about average |
Benchmarked against every hair, beauty & personal care franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Drybar
The franchisor's framing: Discloses 2024 average/median revenue by tenure cohort (all 146 shops: avg $855,793; 5-yr+… 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
Drybar franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Drybar franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $409,979–$1,029,249, including a $50,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Drybar franchise owners make?
- Discloses 2024 average/median revenue by tenure cohort (all 146 shops: avg $855,793; 5-yr+ avg $1,017,847) plus member counts and conversion rates. No costs, expenses, or net income disclosed; excludes 13 closed shops. We grade this disclosure C for honesty.
- What are the Drybar franchise fees?
- Drybar's FDD discloses a $50,000 initial franchise fee, a 7% royalty on gross sales, a 2% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 9% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. Additional 2% local spend + $2,000/mo local ad fee; $20,000 grand opening fee; $775/mo technology fee.
- What is the Drybar franchise profit margin?
- Drybar does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Discloses 2024 average/median revenue by tenure cohort (all 146 shops: avg $855,793; 5-yr+ avg $1,017,847) plus member counts and conversion rates. No costs, expenses, or net income disclosed; excludes 13 closed shops. 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 Drybar franchise failure rate?
- 13 terminations in 2024; NY market shrank from 24 to 13 shops over 3 years.
- How many Drybar locations are there?
- Drybar's FDD reports 176 total outlets, with 0 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 6 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Drybar have complaints or lawsuits?
- Drybar discloses 1 legal matter 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 Drybar franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Drybar scores C on disclosure honesty, carries about 9% of sales in ongoing fees, and discloses 1 legal matters. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
Own a Drybar? Add your real numbers (anonymous)
We publish only aggregated benchmarks — never your name. Contribute and we'll show you how your numbers compare.
Compare Drybar to similar franchises
See all franchises ranked by disclosure honesty →
Source: MN CARDS 33139-202503-03 (Clean FDD 2025). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Drybar or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.