Club Pilates

The $65,000 franchise fee is just the starting point. Club Pilates is an Xponential Fitness brand, and like most Xponential concepts, the real money flows to the franchisor through required equipment and inventory purchases before you open your doors.

The Fitness Equipment & FF&E Package runs $139,700 to $173,000 — purchased from the franchisor or their designated affiliate. This is not optional. It covers 12 Pilates reformers, Springboards, EXO Chairs, TRX equipment, and one private training room setup. Add the Pre-Sales and Soft Opening Retail Inventory Kit at $22,000 to $26,000, and you're already sending $226,700 to $264,000 to corporate before the first class.

Leasehold improvements range from $73,000 to $355,500 net of tenant improvement allowances — a huge spread driven by how much your landlord will contribute. Typical TI allowances historically ranged from $10,000 to $266,490 with a median of $66,921, so budget toward the middle.

Ongoing fees are heavy. The royalty is 8% of gross sales — above the boutique fitness category average. Add 2% to the Brand Development Fund, plus a $550/month ($6,600/year) technology fee, plus a local advertising requirement of the greater of $1,500/month or 2% of prior month gross sales. That's 10%+ of revenue out the door to the franchisor before you pay a single instructor.

Compared to F45 (7% royalty) or a yoga studio franchise, Club Pilates carries a higher ongoing fee burden. The 7% Marketing Expenditure Cap on combined fees provides some protection, but at scale it's a meaningful constraint.

Club Pilates discloses revenue data for 849 qualified studios that operated the full year in 2024. The average was $984,270 and the median was $969,022 — 48% of studios met or exceeded the average, which is a healthy distribution. The top studio pulled $2.3M; the bottom quartile averaged $686,457.

The revenue mix matters for understanding the model: 87% of revenue comes from memberships, 8% from services (personal training, drop-ins), and the remainder from products. This recurring revenue base is the appeal of the boutique fitness model — but it also means your income is directly tied to member retention. Lose 50 members and you lose roughly $60K–$75K in annual revenue. Boutique studios need 350–400+ active members before the economics consistently work.

Club Pilates does not disclose expense or profit data. Layering in realistic costs: instructor labor (30–35% of revenue for boutique fitness), occupancy ($8K–$15K/month in high-traffic retail corridors), royalty + ad fund (10% of revenue), $550/month tech fee ($6,600/year), and local advertising ($1,500+/month). A studio at $969K median revenue in a favorable rent environment might generate $80K–$150K in owner income. A bottom-quartile studio at $686K annual revenue with $10K/month rent is losing money.

The SBA financing note: Club Pilates' established track record and Item 19 disclosure makes it eligible for SBA 7(a) financing — unlike emerging brands without performance history. The $385K–$839K investment range is within SBA lending parameters for buyers with $150K–$200K in liquid assets, though lenders will scrutinize your specific market's saturation level.

New studio ramp-up: 2024 openings averaged $26K in month 1 and climbed to $82K by month 12, suggesting 12 months to reach a steady state — budget working capital accordingly.

Club Pilates grew aggressively in 2024: 166 new studios opened against just 4 closures, adding 153 net units to reach 1,029 total. This follows 115 net openings in 2023 and 101 net in 2022. The system has grown from 660 studios at the start of 2022 to over 1,000 by end of 2024 — a 56% increase in three years.

Zero terminations over the 2022–2023 period and only 4 closures in 2024 is a strong signal for a boutique fitness brand that was expanding rapidly. There's no evidence of a wave of operator failures despite the aggressive growth pace.

Operating in 40 states with California alone having 171 locations, the brand has significant coastal and suburban concentration. This matters for prospective franchisees assessing market saturation — some markets are dense, others remain open.

The royalty-on-gross-sales formula is the core tension: at 8% royalty plus 2% ad fund plus $550/month tech, you're paying 10%+ of revenue before instructor wages. Boutique fitness runs on thin margins unless you maintain strong membership numbers (400+ active members is where the math generally starts working).

The required equipment purchase from the franchisor ($140K–$173K) creates a captive buyer situation on day one. There's no market comparison for the pricing because you can't source equivalent reformers elsewhere in the system.

At renewal, you must renovate and modernize the studio at your own expense in addition to paying a $10,000 successor franchise fee. For a 10-year agreement, that renovation requirement could arrive at a challenging time if the studio isn't performing.

The lost revenue damages clause is unusual: if you terminate without cause, you owe the net present value of up to 36 months of projected royalties and fund fees. This creates real exit risk if your market doesn't perform as expected.