Pet Supplies Plus

The $49,900 franchise fee is straightforward — no tiers, no territory pricing, though multi-unit operators pay $35,000 on their second and subsequent stores, and veterans get a 10% discount to $39,920. On its own the fee is competitive for a retail franchise: it sits well below Petco-style concepts and roughly in line with other pet retail plays.

Where things get expensive is the buildout. Leasehold improvements range from $25,000 to $950,805 — that's not a typo. The bottom of that range reflects a rare scenario where a landlord provides substantial tenant improvement allowances. In the real world, expect buildout to be a major variable. Add $187,200-$251,700 for equipment, $170,000-$290,000 for your opening inventory, and a $30,000 mandatory grand opening advertising deposit.

The $15,000 setup fee covers an on-site advisor during your store preparation, which is genuinely useful but non-negotiable.

Ongoing, the royalty starts at 2% for your first 12 months — unusually generous — then steps up to 3% permanently. That 3% royalty is low by retail franchise standards. Subway charges 8%; most retail franchises run 5-6%. The advertising fund is more complex: in year one, you pay a fixed $3,350/month for local marketing plus $1,000/month to the national fund. After year one, it shifts to the lesser of 3.5% of gross sales or $8,333/month, capped at $100,000 annually.

Technology runs $925-$1,200/month plus $265-$340/month for POS equipment leasing. For stores offering grooming services, add another $132/month for scheduling software. It adds up to roughly $1,200-$1,600/month in tech overhead once you're up and running.

Pet Supplies Plus provides detailed Item 19 data across 347 franchised stores that reported a full year of 2024 sales.

The headline: all-system average was $2,666,693; median $2,496,071. But the more useful number is for mature stores — the 243 locations open four or more years averaged $2,937,419, with a median of $2,806,907.

What does that mean for your pocket? The 4+ year cohort reported a 36.9% average gross margin. On $2.94M in revenue, that's roughly $1.08M in gross profit before labor, rent, and royalties. Labor averaged $390,411. Rent averaged $186,747. Add royalties at 3% ($88,000) and advertising at 3.5% ($103,000), and you're consuming roughly $768,000 in fixed operating costs — leaving a theoretical $315,000 before utilities, insurance, and other operating expenses.

Year-one stores are a different story: average of $1,693,451, and they tend to spend more as a percentage on labor and advertising. The FDD data confirms this is a business that ramps — stores in their second year average $2.08M, third year $2.37M, and don't hit their stride until year four.

Important caveat: PSP does not disclose net income figures. The margin calculation above uses system-reported gross margin and average cost line items from the FDD, but your actual results will depend heavily on your rent deal, staffing model, and local competition.

Pet Supplies Plus grew from 661 total units in 2022 to 735 in 2024, including both franchised and company-owned locations. Franchised units specifically went from around 455 to 502 over the same period.

The standout: zero franchised store closures across all three years of reported data (2022, 2023, 2024). That's rare and meaningful. In a category with serious online competition from Chewy and Amazon, the pet specialty store model is surviving by leaning into services — grooming, fish, live animals, and same-day convenience that e-commerce can't replicate.

The 2024 opening pace (28 new stores) was slower than 2022 and 2023 (60 openings each year), suggesting the brand is being selective about new locations or that available real estate at favorable terms has gotten harder to find. With 233 company-owned stores still in the system, there's also an ongoing conversation about which direction the brand prioritizes franchising vs. corporate growth.

The inventory lock-in is the most important clause to understand before signing. PSP requires you to buy your initial inventory — $170,000 to $290,000 — from its affiliate PSP Distribution (75-90% of stock). You don't have a choice of distributor. That affiliate relationship means PSP benefits twice: from your franchise fee and from your merchandise margin. Monitor whether you're getting competitive pricing on that inventory as the relationship matures.

The leasehold improvement range ($25,000 to $950,805) should raise flags in your site selection conversations. If your landlord isn't providing meaningful tenant improvement allowances, you could end up at the high end of that range — and that changes your payback timeline significantly. Get your lease negotiated before you model ROI.

The advertising fee structure after year one is a cap-based calculation: the lesser of 3.5% or $8,333/month. At average sales ($2.94M for mature stores), 3.5% works out to $8,575/month — which actually exceeds the cap. The cap is a modest protection, but if you're doing well, you hit it.

Grooming service stores carry an additional $132/month software fee and the associated staffing complexity. That's a meaningful revenue driver but also a retention challenge in a tight labor market.