Garage Living Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Garage Living franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2026), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Garage Living discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it B.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Disclosed 30 U.S. franchised operations (37 territories) with 12-month data. Average gross sales $1,631,626; top quartile $2,949,020. Excludes 4 non-conforming units and Canada. No cherry-picking language identified.
What a Garage Living franchise actually costs to run
| Fee | Disclosed | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $60,000 | Item 5 — paid up front, before you open |
| Royalty | 6.5% 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 | 8.5% of gross sales | Before rent, labor, food or debt service |
| Total initial investment | $122,250 – $323,900 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
Royalty 6.5% primary/$2,000/mo secondary; marketing 2% primary/$1,400/mo secondary; plus local 3-6%.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Garage Living system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 50 |
| Ceased operations | 2 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 0 |
| Transferred to new owners | 0 |
| Closure rate | 4.0% of outlets |
2 ceased operations in 2025; 2 reacquired in 2024; minor recent churn signals.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2026. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Garage Living worth it? — how it compares to 85 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 8.5% of sales | about average |
| Startup cost | from $122,250 | about average (median $119,850) |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade B | more honest than 79% of home & trade services franchises |
| Closure rate | 4.0% of outlets | worse than 63% of peers |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 2 | more litigious than 69% of peers |
Benchmarked against every home & trade services franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Garage Living
The franchisor's framing: Disclosed 30 U.S. franchised operations (37 territories) with 12-month data. Average gross… 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
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Garage Living franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Garage Living franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $122,250–$323,900, including a $60,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Garage Living franchise owners make?
- Disclosed 30 U.S. franchised operations (37 territories) with 12-month data. Average gross sales $1,631,626; top quartile $2,949,020. Excludes 4 non-conforming units and Canada. No cherry-picking language identified. We grade this disclosure B for honesty.
- What are the Garage Living franchise fees?
- Garage Living's FDD discloses a $60,000 initial franchise fee, a 6.5% royalty on gross sales, a 2% advertising-fund contribution, for roughly 8.5% of gross sales in recurring fees before rent, labor, or debt service. Royalty 6.5% primary/$2,000/mo secondary; marketing 2% primary/$1,400/mo secondary; plus local 3-6%.
- What is the Garage Living franchise profit margin?
- Garage Living does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Disclosed 30 U.S. franchised operations (37 territories) with 12-month data. Average gross sales $1,631,626; top quartile $2,949,020. Excludes 4 non-conforming units and Canada. No cherry-picking language identified. Recurring fees alone take about 8.5% 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 Garage Living franchise failure rate?
- 2 ceased operations in 2025; 2 reacquired in 2024; minor recent churn signals.
- How many Garage Living locations are there?
- Garage Living's FDD reports 50 total outlets, with 2 that ceased operations in the most recent reporting year and 0 transferred to new owners. Item 20 is where system health shows up before the marketing does.
- Does Garage Living have complaints or lawsuits?
- Garage Living 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 Garage Living franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Garage Living scores B on disclosure honesty, carries about 8.5% of sales in ongoing fees, and discloses 2 legal matters. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Garage Living to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 36855-202606-03 (Clean FDD 2026). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Garage Living or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.