Drybar

The Drybar franchise fee is $50,000 for a single shop, with no published multi-unit discount. A required grand opening package of $20,000 brings initial cash out the door before construction begins to $70,000.

Total investment of $410K–$1.03M is heavily driven by leasehold improvements ($180K–$500K) and furniture, fixtures, and equipment ($60K–$150K). Drybar's aesthetic is central to the brand — the interior design, styling stations, and the signature yellow color palette are proprietary and build-out intensive. Signage runs $15K–$40K; technology and POS $20K–$45K. Three-month working capital of $32K–$144K closes out the estimate, with the wide range reflecting market rent differences across geographies.

The ongoing fee structure deserves careful math. The royalty is 7% of gross sales — above the beauty category average of 5–6%. The brand marketing fund is 2% of gross sales. The technology fee is $775/month ($9,300/year). And then there's the local advertising obligation: a fixed $2,000/month minimum plus an additional 2% of gross sales required in local ad spend.

At the 2024 median revenue of $779,778: - Royalty: ~$54,584 (7%) - Brand fund: ~$15,596 (2%) - Technology fee: ~$9,300 (fixed) - Local ad minimum: ~$24,000 (fixed) - Local ad percentage: ~$15,596 (2%) - Total known fee burden: ~$119,076, or approximately 15.3% of median gross revenue

That's a significant drag on profitability. At higher revenue levels the fixed components dilute, but any shop below $600K is facing a very tight margin profile.

Drybar provides Item 19 data for 146 shops open for the full 2024 calendar year (out of 176 total locations — 83% coverage, a high reporting rate).

2024 results, 146 shops: - Average gross sales: $855,793 - Median gross sales: $779,778

Drybar holds the highest average revenue among beauty brands in this dataset — the blowout-only positioning at a premium price point ($45–$60 per blowout) supports higher revenue per visit than full-service salons. Membership models (monthly subscription for discounted blowouts) drive predictable recurring revenue for top operators.

No expense-side data is disclosed in Item 19. A rough back-of-envelope at median revenue: after the fee burden described above (~$119K at median), you're left with approximately $660K for labor, rent, supplies, and owner compensation. For a salon with 6–8 styling stations requiring licensed stylists, labor alone will run $300K–$450K depending on market wages and utilization. The business can be profitable but it requires strong membership retention and high chair utilization — especially given the high fixed-cost base.

Drybar has grown steadily from 148 locations in 2022 to 176 in 2024 — approximately 8–10 new shops per year with minimal closures disclosed in the available data. All locations are franchised; Drybar Holdings LLC does not operate company stores, which means the system's success depends entirely on franchisee performance.

The brand was acquired by WellBiz Brands (the parent of Amazing Lash Studio and Destination XL) in 2023, bringing professional franchise management infrastructure to what was previously a more founder-driven brand. The implications for franchisees are mixed: institutional backing provides stability and marketing scale, but brand evolution decisions are now made by a private equity-backed portfolio operator rather than the original founder.

The combined advertising obligation is the highest single concern in this profile. Most franchise agreements have either a fixed local ad spend or a percentage — Drybar requires both simultaneously. At $2,000/month fixed plus 2% of gross sales, a shop doing $700K/year is paying $38,000 annually in required local advertising alone, before the brand fund contribution. This is real cash out the door every month regardless of performance.

The rental dependency is also acute. Drybar shops are typically located in high-traffic retail centers — lifestyle centers, malls, or upscale strip retail — where rents are highest and lease terms most rigid. The $180K–$500K leasehold improvement range reflects genuine uncertainty about what you'll actually spend in your specific market and space.

The $50,000 franchise fee with no multi-unit discount structure makes scaling this brand capital-intensive — each additional location costs the same as the first. The renewal fee of $10,000 is mid-range but applies on a 10-year cycle.

Finally, the 7% royalty plus $775/month technology fee leaves less room for error than in lower-royalty concepts. Model your unit economics carefully before committing, using at least three comparable shops' actual performance data from Item 19 disclosures.