Row House Franchise
Cost, fees, owner earnings, closure rate and litigation for a Row House franchise — pulled from the franchisor's own public FDD (2020), not its sales material.
Disclosure honesty
Row House discloses earnings (Item 19) — but the grade is how honestly. We graded it D.
What their own earnings claim actually says
Discloses one founder-owned NYC studio's 2019 revenue ($761K) and partial expenses showing $207K residual. Excludes all 54 new franchised units, omits owner compensation, taxes, depreciation, and debt service.
What a Row House 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 | 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 | $276,600 – $499,500 | Item 7 — franchisor's own low/high estimate |
Plus $2K/mo local ad, $275/mo tech fee, $179/mo software, $10K renewal/transfer fees.
Royalty and ad-fund percentages are charged on gross sales — an owner pays them whether or not the location is profitable.
Row House system size and owner turnover
| Total outlets | 54 |
| Ceased operations | 0 |
| Terminated by franchisor | 0 |
| Transferred to new owners | 0 |
| Closure rate | 0.0% of outlets |
Brand new franchise system; 54 outlets opened in 2019 with zero closures or terminations yet reported.
From Item 20 of the FDD 2020. Terminations and ceased operations are the franchisor's own count of owners who stopped — the number the sales pitch leaves out.
Is Row House worth it? — how it compares to 71 similar franchises
| Ongoing fees | 9% of sales | about average |
| Startup cost | from $276,600 | about average (median $295,540) |
| Disclosure honesty | Grade D | less honest than most of the category |
| Closure rate | 0.0% of outlets | better than most (median 0.1%) |
| Disclosed lawsuits | 0 | fewer than most |
Benchmarked against every fitness & gyms franchise we've graded from public FDDs — the context the franchisor's pitch never gives you.
Owner take-home for a Row House
The franchisor's framing: Discloses one founder-owned NYC studio's 2019 revenue ($761K) and partial expenses showing… 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
Row House franchise — frequently asked
- How much does a Row House franchise cost?
- The FDD lists a total initial investment of about $276,600–$499,500, including a $60,000 initial franchise fee.
- How much do Row House franchise owners make?
- Discloses one founder-owned NYC studio's 2019 revenue ($761K) and partial expenses showing $207K residual. Excludes all 54 new franchised units, omits owner compensation, taxes, depreciation, and debt service. We grade this disclosure D for honesty.
- What are the Row House franchise fees?
- Row House's FDD discloses a $60,000 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. Plus $2K/mo local ad, $275/mo tech fee, $179/mo software, $10K renewal/transfer fees.
- What is the Row House franchise profit margin?
- Row House does not publish a franchisee net-profit margin — almost no franchisor does. What Item 19 actually shows: Discloses one founder-owned NYC studio's 2019 revenue ($761K) and partial expenses showing $207K residual. Excludes all 54 new franchised units, omits owner compensation, taxes, depreciation, and debt service. 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 Row House franchise failure rate?
- Brand new franchise system; 54 outlets opened in 2019 with zero closures or terminations yet reported.
- How many Row House locations are there?
- Row House's FDD reports 54 total outlets, with 0 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 Row House have complaints or lawsuits?
- Row House discloses no material litigation in Item 3 of the filing we reviewed. That's a positive signal, though it covers only what the franchisor is required to report.
- Is a Row House franchise worth it?
- It depends on the numbers, not the pitch. Row House scores D on disclosure honesty, carries about 9% of sales in ongoing fees. Get the real owner take-home before you sign.
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Compare Row House to similar franchises
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Source: MN CARDS 11878-202005-02 (Clean FDD 2020). FranchiseValidate is independent and not affiliated with Row House or its franchisor. Figures are extracted from the franchisor's own public disclosure document; verify against the current FDD before any decision.