Club Pilates vs Row House
Both in Fitness
| Metric | Club Pilates | Row House |
|---|---|---|
| Investment (Low) Minimum estimated initial investment from the FDD, including franchise fee and build-out. Lower is better. | $385K | $277K |
| Investment (High) Maximum estimated initial investment. Lower is better for the buyer. | $839K | $500K |
| Franchise Fee One-time upfront fee paid to the franchisor. Lower is better. | $65K | $60K |
| Royalty Ongoing percentage of gross revenue paid to the franchisor, typically weekly or monthly. | 8% | 7% |
| Total Units Total franchised and company-owned locations. More units generally means a more proven system. | 1,029 | 54 |
| Growth Rate Net change in total units over the last year. Negative growth may signal franchisee closures. | 17.47% | 94.44% |
| Health Score Composite score (1-100) based on growth, fees, scale, and data quality. Higher is better. | 94 | 76 |
Green = better on that metric. Based on official FDD data.
Boutique fitness at 1,029 units vs boutique fitness at 54 units — maturity vs growth bet
Club Pilates and Row House are both Xponential Fitness brands, which means they share the same parent company infrastructure, technology stack, real estate sourcing team, and franchise support systems. A buyer choosing between them isn't choosing different corporate partners — they're choosing different modalities within the same franchise holding company. That shared infrastructure is a meaningful advantage: Xponential's scaled buying power, lease negotiation expertise, and multi-brand support infrastructure give both brands resources that independent boutique fitness concepts can't match.
Row House's extraordinary 94.44% unit growth rate requires immediate context: this brand went from approximately 28 units to 54 units in a single year, which produces a massive percentage growth rate from a tiny base. At 54 total units, Row House is a startup phase franchise — the brand hasn't proven its model across diverse markets, seasons, economic cycles, or franchisee cohorts. Club Pilates at 1,029 units has been stress-tested across all of those dimensions. The FDD data tells you Club Pilates works; Row House's data tells you 26 people in the last year bet it would work.
Row House's absence of Item 19 financial disclosure is consistent with an early-stage franchise — they don't have enough locations or operational history to publish meaningful averages. Club Pilates' $984K average unit revenue is audited FDD data from 1,029 locations across diverse markets. A buyer who needs to model their investment to secure financing, evaluate return on investment, or compare against alternative uses of $280K-$500K capital cannot underwrite Row House's business case from the FDD alone.
The rowing modality itself carries both an opportunity and a risk. Rowing provides a full-body, low-impact workout that appeals to aging adults (40-65) and injury-recovering athletes — demographics with high willingness to pay and lower propensity to cancel. That positioning is genuinely different from Pilates' demographic and could build a loyal base. The risk: rowing is not yet a cultural fitness phenomenon. Pilates is the fourth most common fitness activity in the US; rowing is associated primarily with competitive sports. Building consumer demand for rowing as a regular fitness routine requires market education that an early-stage franchise can't afford to do alone.
Club Pilates is the lower-risk investment with disclosed financials, a proven multi-market operating model, and a fitness modality with established consumer demand; Row House is a higher-risk growth bet for investors who want early-stage territory availability and the upside of getting into a brand before saturation — valid if you're comfortable with the absence of proof-of-concept data across diverse markets.
Not sure which to choose?
A franchise consultant can introduce you to franchisees from both brands, verify the Item 19 numbers on the ground, and help you avoid a territory that's already saturated. Their fee comes from the franchisor — your consultation costs nothing.