Bar Method franchise unit economics
Bar Method studios run about 1,700 square feet. The 73 that traded the twelve months to 28 February 2026 averaged $422,969 of sales on 143 monthly members and 224 monthly unique customers. So 81 people a month take a class without a membership agreement. Dues are 61.9% of revenue, retail 5.7%, and the remaining 32.4% is class packages, drop-ins and everything else sold by the session.
- Primary source
- The Bar Method, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document
- Items read
- Items 5 and 6 for fees; Item 7 for cost to open; Item 19 for sales and any profit figure; Item 20 for the location count
- Population
- 73 of 77 locations
- Our calculations
- Marked on the page with an asterisk. Method
- Last reviewed
- 26 September 2026
Disclosure-based. Not a forecast, not an offer to sell a franchise, and not advice.
Every Bar Method studio pays about the same rent: base rent of $29.51 a square foot and common-area charges of $11.03, so the recommended 1,700-square-foot box costs $68,918 a year, 9.44% of what a top-quarter studio bills and 32.68% of what a bottom-quarter one does.
- The same 1,700 square feet costs 9.44% of revenue at the top and 32.68% at the bottom. $68,918 of rent and common-area charges against $730,249 and $210,862 *, 23.2 points of margin decided before a class is taught.
- A member pays $152.58 a month in dues and $246.49 in total. $261,825 of membership revenue and $422,969 of everything across 143 members *, so dues are 61.9 cents of each revenue dollar.
- 81 of every 224 monthly customers attend without a membership agreement. 36.2% of the people in the room *, and $137,066 of the year sits outside dues and retail.
- The top quarter holds 2.76 times the members and charges $36.93 more a month each. 218 against 79, and $169.08 against $132.15 *, volume has 69.5% of the $317,043 dues gap.
- One studio sold $153,183 of retail. 72.6% of what a bottom-quarter studio bills in total *, against a system average of $24,078 and a low of $3,112.
How much does a Bar Method franchise make?
The average Bar Method unit reported $422,969 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $383,926. The brand’s disclosure document discloses revenue and not profit, so what an owner keeps depends on the cost structure set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 9.5% of sales across royalty, brand fund and the rest of the stack. Revenue is not income. Rent, wages, cost of goods and the franchise fees all come out before an owner is paid. The figures for the highest-selling and lowest-selling businesses are below.
Retail and the other third
Dues are 61.9 cents. The other 38 are worth reading.
Revenue splits three ways, membership payments, retail products, and everything else: class packages, drop-ins and single sessions. Across the 73 studios that is $261,825, $24,078 and $137,066.
| Quarter | Total sales | Membership | Share * | Retail | Share * | Everything else * | Share * | Retail a member * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | $730,249 | $442,321 | 60.6% | $41,252 | 5.6% | $246,676 | 33.8% | $189.23 |
| Second | $447,936 | $287,947 | 64.3% | $26,845 | 6.0% | $133,144 | 29.7% | $165.71 |
| Third | $314,614 | $199,338 | 63.4% | $18,202 | 5.8% | $97,074 | 30.9% | $156.91 |
| Bottom | $210,862 | $125,278 | 59.4% | $10,751 | 5.1% | $74,833 | 35.5% | $136.09 |
| All 73 | $422,969 | $261,825 | 61.9% | $24,078 | 5.7% | $137,066 | 32.4% | $168.38 |
Total sales, membership revenue and retail revenue are as the brand reported it; the everything-else column, the four share columns and the retail-a-member column are marked *.
Retail per member is $53.14 higher at the top than the bottom. $189.23 against $136.09 a year *, but on 79 members that is $4,198, which is 2.0% of a bottom-quarter studio’s year.
The best retail studio sold $153,183. 6.4 times the system average and 49 times the lowest-selling studios’s $3,112 *, more than half of what an entire bottom-quarter studio bills.
The bottom quarter leans hardest on non-member revenue. 35.5% against 33.8% at the top and 29.7% in the second quarter *, a studio with fewer members sells more single classes to fill the room.
The member and the customer
143 members, 224 customers.
Two populations count every month: members with a signed agreement who attend at least one class, and unique customers who took a class at all. The average studio has 143 of the first and 224 of the second. The 81 in between pay by the class or the package.
| Quarter | Monthly members | Monthly customers | Members as a share * | Dues a member a month * | All revenue a member a month * | All revenue a customer a month * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | 218 | 359 | 60.7% | $169.08 | $279.15 | $169.51 |
| Second | 162 | 241 | 67.2% | $148.12 | $230.42 | $154.89 |
| Third | 116 | 173 | 67.1% | $143.20 | $226.02 | $151.55 |
| Bottom | 79 | 129 | 61.2% | $132.15 | $222.43 | $136.22 |
| All 73 | 143 | 224 | 63.8% | $152.58 | $246.49 | $157.35 |
Member and customer counts are as the brand reported it. The four right-hand columns are marked *, dividing the filed membership revenue and total sales by the filed counts and by twelve.
Dues are $152.58 of the $246.49 a member brings. The other $93.91 a month is class packages, drop-ins and retail *, sold across 224 heads against 143.
The top quarter charges $36.93 more a member a month. $169.08 against $132.15 *, on the bottom quarter’s 79 members that alone is $35,013 a year, which is half its rent.
Volume has 69.5% of the dues gap and price 11.0%. The $317,043 between the top and bottom quarters&rsquo. Membership revenue splits into $220,426 of extra members at the bottom quarter’s own rate, $35,013 of rate on its own members and $61,605 where the two multiply *.
The busiest studio holds 358 members and the quietest 22. 16.3 times *, against a revenue range of 17.6 times, so member count accounts for nearly all of it.
Top performers
What separates the top Bar Method performers
Bar Method splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $730,249 a year. The worst averaged $210,862. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $383,926. The average was $422,969. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 3.5× gap between bands is not an operating gap. Catchment, daytime population and what sits next door set the ceiling before the first customer arrives.
- Capacity, fixed at build.Locations run 1,700 square feet. capacity is 73 studio floor multiplied by hours multiplied by how full they run. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $240,288 to $491,358, a 2.0× range inside one brand. The high end usually buys more capacity, so the cheapest build is not always the cheapest route to the top band.
- Lease economics.Occupancy cost ran 16.3% of sales in this filing. The rent does not fall when sales do, so the same lease is a far heavier line at the bottom of the system than at the top. That is how a weak site compounds into a weak profit line.
Live operating levers
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex.Rent and building costs take 16.3% of sales. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, since the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Members, the operating driver.This model bills on members. The owner watches how many people join, how many cancel, and what a member spends beyond the plan. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Service and retail mix.Attachment rate on retail, and the share of customers on the higher service tiers, lift what each hour earns without adding an hour or a room. It is the only lever that raises the ceiling without spending capital.
- Fees, and where the minimum bites.Fees run about 9.5% of sales. A minimum sits underneath the percentage, so the low-volume location pays the higher effective rate. The brand charges the weakest locations the most. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum and know which side of it you are on, because the answer changes what an extra dollar of sales is worth.
Context you underwrite around
- The reporting screen.73 of 77 locations are behind these figures. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded, as are locations under the brand’s current size standard, so the numbers describe locations that cleared that screen, not the system as a whole.
- What the disclosure leaves out.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations. Anything below the sales line has to come from the franchisor or from owners you call.
The box and the rent
$40.54 a square foot, whatever the studio bills.
Franchisees paid base rent of $29.51 a square foot and common-area charges of $11.03 across 2023, 2024 and 2025, $40.54 together. On the recommended 1,700-square-foot studio that is $68,918 a year of premises cost before anything else happens, landing on a revenue line that runs from $210,862 to $730,249 across the quarters.
| Quarter | Studios | Average revenue | Median | Lowest | Highest | Rent and CAM at 1,700 sq ft * | Share of revenue * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | 18 | $730,249 | $633,245 | $529,776 | $1,148,782 | $68,918 | 9.44% |
| Second | 18 | $447,936 | $442,676 | $396,576 | $508,163 | $68,918 | 15.39% |
| Third | 18 | $314,614 | $305,743 | $282,293 | $383,926 | $68,918 | 21.91% |
| Bottom | 19 | $210,862 | $234,046 | $65,268 | $278,116 | $68,918 | 32.68% |
| All 73 | 73 | $422,969 | $383,926 | $65,268 | $1,148,782 | $68,918 | 16.29% |
Revenue figures are as the brand reported it. The two rent columns are marked *, at the filed $29.51 base rent plus $11.03 of common-area charges a square foot averaged across 2023, 2024 and 2025, applied to the recommended 1,700 square feet.
Rent alone separates the quarters by 23.2 points of revenue. 9.44% against 32.68% *, and the box is the same size in both, so the difference is entirely how many people walk through it.
A bottom-quarter studio needs 452 more member-months a year to have its rent at the top quarter’s rate. $68,918 at $152.58 of dues a member a month *, 38 more members held all year.
The landlord paid $46,002 of the fit-out at the average allowance. $27.06 a square foot across 1,700 *, against building work of $80,000 to $174,400, and the range of allowances runs from zero to $50 a square foot, which is $85,000 on the same box.
Revenue runs $248.81 a square foot at the system average. $422,969 across 1,700 *, $429.56 in the top quarter and $124.04 in the bottom.
Opening and the brand’s cut
9.52% to the brand, 5% on marketing, and the rent above it.
Royalty is 6% of sales and the marketing fund is 2%. The fund plus approved local marketing must reach 5% of the prior year’s revenue together, so the marketing line is 5% whoever spends it. Technology is $475 a month to an affiliate and the coaching program is $750 a year.
| Quarter | Revenue | Royalty at 6% | Marketing at 5% | Technology | Coaching | Together | Share | With rent at 1,700 sq ft * |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | $730,249 | $43,815 | $36,512 | $5,700 | $750 | $86,777 | 11.88% | 21.32% |
| Second | $447,936 | $26,876 | $22,397 | $5,700 | $750 | $55,723 | 12.44% | 27.83% |
| Third | $314,614 | $18,877 | $15,731 | $5,700 | $750 | $41,058 | 13.05% | 34.96% |
| Bottom | $210,862 | $12,652 | $10,543 | $5,700 | $750 | $29,645 | 14.06% | 46.74% |
| All 73 | $422,969 | $25,378 | $21,148 | $5,700 | $750 | $52,977 | 12.52% | 28.82% |
Rates, the technology fee, the coaching fee and the revenue figures are as the brand reported it; every dollar figure and share is marked *.
Technology and coaching cost $6,450 whatever the studio bills. 3.06% of a bottom-quarter studio’s revenue and 0.88% of a top-quarter one’s *, 42 member-months at the weak end.
Rent and brand charges together take 46.74% of a bottom-quarter studio’s revenue. Against 21.32% at the top *, and wages, which sits outside these figures, comes out underneath both.
$240,288 to open, and the fit-out is the variable.
| Line | Low | High | Share of the low column * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building work | $80,000 | $174,400 | 33.3% |
| Initial franchise fee | $42,500 | $42,500 | 17.7% |
| Three months’ rent plus security deposit | $20,270 | $40,540 | 8.4% |
| Furniture, fixtures and millwork | $19,600 | $33,600 | 8.2% |
| Grand opening program | $16,200 | $25,000 | 6.7% |
| Technology package and licenses | $14,786 | $23,877 | 6.2% |
| Interior and exterior signage | $14,000 | $18,000 | 5.8% |
| Architect and design fees | $11,000 | $20,000 | 4.6% |
| Initial fitness equipment | $5,594 | $11,553 | 2.3% |
| Additional funds, three months | $5,238 | $48,238 | 2.2% |
| Insurance and bonds | $2,700 | $3,550 | 1.1% |
| Initial retail inventory | $2,500 | $4,000 | 1.0% |
| Miscellaneous | $2,500 | $19,400 | 1.0% |
| Office supplies | $2,000 | $3,200 | 0.8% |
| Training, travel and living | $1,400 | $11,000 | 0.6% |
| Construction management and site survey | $0 | $12,500 | 0.0% |
| Total | $240,288 | $491,358 | 100% |
Amounts are as the brand reported it and the share column is marked *; both columns add to their stated totals exactly.
The build costs 0.57 times what the average studio bills in a year. $240,288 against $422,969 *, $1,680 to $3,436 for each of the 143 members an average studio holds.
The system returned to growth.
| Year | At start | Opened | Terminated | Failed to renew | At end | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 75 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 73 | 3 |
| 2024 | 73 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 73 | 3 |
| 2025 | 73 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 77 | 5 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, and start plus openings less departures reconciles to the year-end count in all three years.
Openings ran 3, 2 and 5 against departures of 5, 2 and 1. The system lost two studios across 2023 and 2024 together and added four in 2025 *.
Nine agreements are signed against three studios projected for 2026. Three signed franchises for every projected opening *.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What does a Bar Method studio bill?
The 73 studios open the whole twelve months to 28 February 2026 averaged $422,969 of sales with a median of $383,926, ranging from $65,268 to $1,148,782. By quarter the averages run $730,249, $447,936, $314,614 and $210,862, and 30 of the 73 reached the all-studio average.
How many members does a studio have?
143 a month on average, plus 81 further unique customers who take a class without a membership agreement, 224 people in total. By quarter, members run 218, 162, 116 and 79, and customers 359, 241, 173 and 129. Individual studios range from 22 to 358 members.
What is a member worth?
$152.58 a month in dues and $246.49 a month counting everything the studio sells. Membership payments are 61.9% of revenue, retail 5.7% and class packages, drop-ins and other single sessions the remaining 32.4%. Retail adds $168.38 a member a year.
What does the space cost?
Franchisees reported base rent averaging $29.51 a square foot with common-area charges of $11.03 across 2023, 2024 and 2025. On the recommended 1,700 square feet that is $68,918 a year, which is 9.44% of a top-quarter studio’s revenue and 32.68% of a bottom-quarter one’s. Landlord improvement allowances averaged $27.06 a square foot and ranged from zero to $50.
What does the brand take?
A 6% royalty and a 2% marketing fund contribution on sales, with the fund and approved local marketing together required to reach 5%. Technology is $475 a month to an affiliate, rising up to 10% a year, and the coaching program is $750 a year. At the average studio the royalty, fund, technology and coaching come to $40,288, or 9.52% of revenue.
What does it cost to open?
$240,288 to $491,358, with building work of $80,000 to $174,400 the largest line and a $42,500 franchise fee the second. The fee falls to $38,250 for a veteran, $37,500 for an existing franchisee of the brand or its affiliates. $33,750 for both. Fees collected during 2025 ran from $30,000 to $42,500.
- No profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
Questions worth putting to Bar Method
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- What do locations at the median spend on wages and rent as a share of sales? The filing reports sales only.
- What separates the highest-selling locations from the lowest: trade area, years open, size, or the owner?
- How long does a new location take to reach the average you publish, and what does the build-up look like month by month?
- At what level of sales do the minimum charges stop applying and the percentage take over?
- How many Bar Method locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Finance Diagnostic runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →What share of your revenue is the lease taking?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around rent and common-area charges as a share of revenue, dues a member. The customers in your room who have yet to sign an agreement.
Request the reviewthe franchise library, all 243 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners
Bar Method reads against the rest of the pilates, barre and yoga group: barre3 · BODYBAR Pilates · Club Pilates · Pure Barre · Yoga Six. The pilates, barre and yoga guide compares all of them on the same figures.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?How royalty, ad fund and minimums actually work on a monthly statement.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?A 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?Usually it is a revenue problem wearing a payroll costume.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?Location-level contribution, and what it takes to see it.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?What a financial performance representation does and does not tell you.