European Wax Center franchise unit economics
European Wax Center franchisees run waxing centers in retail suites that sell facial and body hair removal and skin care, largely through prepaid Wax Pass packages and memberships.
European Wax Center in the news
- European Wax Center Ranked #1 in Waxing in Entrepreneur’s 2026 Best of the Best List · Yahoo Finance (GlobeNewswire) ·
- European Wax Center Announces Renowned Esthetician Joanna Czech as First-Ever Brand Ambassador · Markets Insider (GlobeNewswire) ·
Each European Wax Center headline above is the publisher's own and links to the publisher. Averan Advisors checked these European Wax Center links on 11 October 2026. Franchise news lists news on 95 franchise brands. European Wax Center is in the Salon, Lash, Wax and Tan franchise guide.
European Wax Center franchise at a glance
Across 1,028 centers open the whole of fiscal 2025 the average was $902,437 of gross sales, rising to $1,024,725 for the 724 centers past five years.
European Wax Center franchisees averaged $902,437 of sales in fiscal 2025, according to Item 19 of European Wax Center’s 2026 FDD, issued 23 April 2026. The 1,028 in that group are 99%* of European Wax Center’s 1,042 locations. Fees paid to European Wax Center come to about 9%* of sales.
- A European Wax Center franchise costs $340,600 to $776,950 to open, including a $45,000 initial franchise fee, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- European Wax Center charges a royalty of 6% of sales, a 3% brand fund contribution and a $310 monthly technology fee.
- European Wax Center reported 1,042 franchised locations in its 2026 FDD.
- 43.7% of reporting European Wax Center locations reached the average.
- Work out European Wax Center's fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
These figures come from European Wax Center's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
From the 19 May 2026 filing
- The European Wax Center FDD amended May 19, 2026 says General Atlantic acquired all outstanding Class A shares of European Wax Center, Inc., the franchisor's indirect parent, on May 8, 2026. (Item 1, PDF page 9)
- The European Wax Center FDD amended May 19, 2026 says European Wax Center, Inc. stock was delisted from NASDAQ after that sale and European Wax Center, Inc. became a privately held company. (Item 1, PDF page 9)
- The European Wax Center FDD amended May 19, 2026 adds EWC Sub Issuer LLC, organized in Delaware on May 1, 2026, to the ownership chain between EWC Holding Guarantor LLC and EWC Master Issuer LLC, the direct parent of the franchisor EWC Franchisor LLC. (Item 1, PDF pages 8 and 11)
Each line above names the European Wax Center Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) it comes from, with the Item and the page of the PDF it appears on. Averan Advisors read the European Wax Center filing on 11 October 2026.
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Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- The whole brand take is 9% of sales plus $7,120 a year.$88,339 at the average center, which is 9.79% *. The 2% local advertising obligation was folded into the marketing fund in 2016, so the only hard local spend left is a one-time $12,000 at opening.
- Quartile position follows years open.94.9% of the top quartile has been open past five years against 33.5% of the bottom quartile, on averages of $1,428,602 and $475,545 *, three times the sales, and most of the difference is how long the doors have been open.
- Centers past five years average $1,024,725.13.6% above the $902,437 all-center figure *, across 724 of the 1,028, so the mature number is the one a fifth-year owner should be benchmarking against.
- Openings fell from 107 to 12 while closures rose from 7 to 32.That is a net loss of 20 centers in 2025, after gains of 100 and 24 *. It is the first decline in European Wax Center's count across these three years.
- 175 centers changed hands in three years against zero terminations.One in six of the system, at 48, 76 and 51 a year *, and every one of the 59 exits was booked as ceasing for other reasons.
How much does a European Wax Center franchise make?
The average European Wax Center unit reported $902,437 of revenue in the 2026 FDD. 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% 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.
Top performers
What separates the top European Wax Center performers
European Wax Center splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The top group averaged $1,428,602 a year. The lowest averaged $475,545. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.The top band sells 3.0× the bottom band. Catchment, daytime population and neighboring businesses affect where a location falls.
- Capacity.Locations run 1,000 to 1,600 square feet. The build sets how much you can sell.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $340,600 to $776,950, a 2.3× range inside one brand.
- Fees and the minimum.European Wax Center fees run about 9.0% of sales with no royalty minimum. The $7,120 a year of fixed technology, search and cyber charges takes 9.50% to 10.50% of sales from the top quartile to the bottom.
Live operating levers
- Membership drives the model.Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
- Service and retail mix.Retail sales and the share of customers on higher service tiers raise revenue per hour without adding hours or rooms.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 1028 of 1042 locations. 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.
- What the filing does not include.Item 19 publishes no profit or cost data for franchised locations, no median. Ask the franchisor or current owners for cost and profit figures.
Top performers
How far apart the locations are
European Wax Center reports its locations in performance groups, from the highest-selling to the lowest. The group-by-group figures are in the tables on the Model and Finance tabs.
Discounts available
- European Wax Center charges existing franchisees $36,000 instead of $45,000.
From Item 5 of the European Wax Center 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
Highest to lowest, by sales
Gross sales by quartile, fiscal 2025
| Measure | Top quarter | Second | Third | Bottom | All centers | Past five years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centers | 257 | 257 | 257 | 257 | 1,028 | 724 |
| Average gross sales | $1,428,602 | $977,033 | $728,567 | $475,545 | $902,437 | $1,024,725 |
| Median gross sales | $1,375,183 | $973,551 | $728,468 | $494,648 | $1,123,886 | $967,104 |
| Highest | $2,420,856 | $1,123,668 | $842,699 | $619,344 | $2,420,856 | $2,420,856 |
| Lowest | $1,124,103 | $846,169 | $620,419 | $135,136 | $135,136 | $135,136 |
| Above their own average | 104, 40.5% | 128, 49.8% | 128, 49.8% | 141, 54.9% | 449, 43.7% | 323, 44.6% |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, from the 1,028 centers open the entire fiscal year, with past-five-years meaning 60 or more months in operation.
The quartiles weight back to $902,437 exactly. Four equal groups of 257 *, so the quarter table and the systemwide average describe the same population, which is rarer than it sounds and makes both numbers usable.
The all-center median is printed as $1,123,886, above its own average and above the second quartile’s highest-selling center. With four equal rank-ordered quartiles the true middle has to fall between $842,699 and $846,169 *. Treat the printed figure as a keying error and use the boundary instead.
The bottom quartile runs from $135,136 to $619,344. That is a range of 4.6 times inside one quarter of the system *. It is the widest range of the four quartiles, and its median of $494,648 sits above its average of $475,545, which is what a long low-selling tail looks like.
The second and third quartiles have medians within $3,500 of their averages. That is $973,551 against $977,033 and $728,468 against $728,567, in equal groups of 257 centers. So an owner inside them can read the quarter average as a real expectation.
The highest-selling center bills 17.9 times the lowest-selling center. That is $2,420,856 against $135,136 *, on identical suites of five or six rooms, identical fees and identical products.
Years open sets the quarter
Center age by sales quartile
| quartile | Centers | Past five years | Share | Average gross sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top quarter | 257 | 244 | 94.9% | $1,428,602 |
| Second | 257 | 225 | 87.5% | $977,033 |
| Third | 257 | 169 | 65.8% | $728,567 |
| Bottom | 257 | 86 | 33.5% | $475,545 |
| All centers | 1,028 | 724 | 70.4% | $902,437 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it, with five years meaning 60 or more months in operation.
The share past five years falls from 94.9% to 33.5% as the quartiles descend. A 61-point slide that tracks the sales slide almost perfectly *, so before reading the bottom quartile as lower-selling owners, read it as two thirds young centers.
Centers past five years average $1,024,725 against $902,437 for everyone. A $122,288 premium, 13.6% *, which is the clean measure of what the build-up is worth once site and market are held roughly constant.
304 centers are still inside their first five years. 29.6% of the reporting system *, and 259 of them sit in the bottom two quartiles. So a third of the system is carrying the fee load of a mature center on the revenue of a young one.
The mature group’s median is $967,104 against its $1,024,725 average. A $57,621 gap *, so even among five-year centers the mean is lifted by the high end, and the middle mature center bills under a million.
The mature group still contains the system’s lowest-selling center at $135,136. Age raises the odds, so the fee structure below matters most to the centers that have been open longest and are still in the bottom quarter.
What the fees come to
Franchise fees by quartile
| Charge | Rate | Top quarter | Second | Third | Bottom | Average center |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% of gross sales | $85,716 | $58,622 | $43,714 | $28,533 | $54,146 |
| Marketing fund | 3% of gross sales | $42,858 | $29,311 | $21,857 | $14,266 | $27,073 |
| Technology, search and cyber | $585 a month plus $100 a year | $7,120 | $7,120 | $7,120 | $7,120 | $7,120 |
| Total | n/a | $135,694, 9.50% | $95,053, 9.73% | $72,691, 9.98% | $49,919, 10.50% | $88,339, 9.79% |
Both rates and both fixed charges are as the brand reported it, and every dollar figure and share is marked *.
The load varies by one point across the whole system. That is 9.50% at the top quartile to 10.50% at the bottom *. The only fixed European Wax Center charge is $7,120 a year.
There is no separate local advertising requirement. The former 2% local obligation was merged with the former 1% fund in 2016 into the single 3% paid to the brand. So an owner modeling this business has 9% and stops.
The royalty has no minimum and no sliding scale. European Wax Center charges a flat 6% of gross sales, collected weekly, so a bottom-quartile center at $475,545 pays the same 6% rate as a top-quartile center.
The one required marketing spend is $12,000 at opening. European Wax Center sets a $12,000 minimum for grand opening advertising across the three months either side of launch, and the investment table runs the line as high as $35,000. After that, the only marketing charge is the 3% fund.
Missing the conditions for a successor term costs 150% then 200% of the rate. That applies to both the royalty and the fund, for the first and second 90 days of a cure period. At the average European Wax Center center, that takes the monthly 9% from $6,769 to $10,152 and then $13,537 *.
Closures and resales
Units opened, closed and transferred, 2023 to 2025
| Year | At start | Opened | Terminations | Ceased, other | At end | Net * | Transfers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 938 | 107 | 0 | 7 | 1,038 | +100 | 48 |
| 2024 | 1,038 | 43 | 0 | 20 | 1,062 | +24 | 76 |
| 2025 | 1,062 | 12 | 0 | 32 | 1,042 | −20 | 51 |
Every figure is as the brand reported it and the net column is marked. The 2024 close includes one former company-owned center converted to a franchise.
Openings fell 89% in two years. 107 to 43 to 12 *, while closures went the other way, 7 to 20 to 32, so 2025 closed 2.7 centers for every one it opened.
175 centers changed hands across the three years. One in six of the 1,042 standing at year end *, against 59 closures, so an owner leaving this system has been three times more likely to sell than to shut.
Every one of the 59 exits was booked as ceasing for other reasons. Zero terminations, zero non-renewals and zero reacquisitions in three years, which tells an owner that exits here are the owner’s decision.
The company estate stayed at five centers and sold one. Six at the start of 2023, one sold to a franchisee during 2024, five since, so the brand has almost none of its own operating risk.
Opening costs $340,600 to $776,950. That is 38% to 86% of an average year’s sales *, with building work at $147,000 to $386,000 the largest line, on a franchise fee of $45,000, or $36,000 for an existing owner.
Questions we get asked
Questions an owner asks
How much does a European Wax Center franchise make?
European Wax Center franchisees averaged $902,437 of sales in fiscal 2025, according to Item 19 of European Wax Center’s 2026 FDD, issued 23 April 2026. The 1,028 in that group are 99%* of European Wax Center’s 1,042 locations. Fees paid to European Wax Center come to about 9%* of sales.
What does a European Wax Center bill?
Across 1,028 centers open the whole of fiscal 2025, the average was $902,437 of gross sales. By quartile the averages were $1,428,602, $977,033, $728,567 and $475,545. Centers past five years averaged $1,024,725. The highest-selling billed $2,420,856 and the lowest-selling $135,136. 449 of the 1,028 were above the systemwide average, which is 43.7%.
What fees does European Wax Center charge?
European Wax Center charges 6% of gross sales in royalty, collected weekly, and 3% into the marketing fund, monthly, plus $310 a month of technology and security, $275 a month for the mandatory local search program, and $100 a year for cyber insurance. On our reading that comes to $88,339 at the average center, or 9.79% of sales.
Is there a local advertising requirement at European Wax Center?
Only at opening. The former 2% local advertising obligation was merged with the former 1% marketing fund contribution in 2016 into the single 3% now paid to the brand. The one hard dollar minimum left is a minimum $12,000 of grand opening advertising spent across the three months either side of launch. The investment table runs that line as high as $35,000.
Is there a royalty minimum at European Wax Center?
European Wax Center has no royalty minimum. The royalty is a flat 6% of gross sales, free of tiers, thresholds and any weekly or monthly minimum anywhere in the fee schedule. The one escalation is a cure period for a missed successor-term condition. That is where the royalty and the fund both run at 150% of standard for 90 days and 200% for the next 90.
Why is the bottom quartile so far behind at European Wax Center?
Largely age. 94.9% of the top quartile has been open more than five years against 33.5% of the bottom, and mature centers average $1,024,725 against $902,437 for everyone. Even so, the mature group still holds the system’s lowest-selling center at $135,136, so years open shifts the odds.
How much does a European Wax Center franchise cost to open?
A European Wax Center franchise costs $340,600 to $776,950 to open for a single center, on a $45,000 franchise fee, or $36,000 for an existing franchisee. Building work runs $147,000 to $386,000, furniture and equipment $18,000 to $74,000, and three months of additional funds $45,000 to $75,000. The premises are 1,000 to 1,600 square feet with five or six waxing rooms, and every franchisee currently leases.
Is the European Wax Center territory exclusive?
The territory is expressly non-exclusive. A protected territory is granted per center only after the brand accepts the lease terms, described by a map attached to a location letter. Boundaries are set on population density, customer traffic, median age, competitors and proximity to other centers. Size is generally left open at both ends and the radius figure stays unstated. Protection is free of any sales-volume condition.
Which two numbers should run monthly at European Wax Center?
Track gross sales against $1,024,725 a year once you are past five years and $902,437 before that, because those are the two benchmarks the quartiles are really sorted by. Then track wax pass and membership revenue as a share of the total. With 9% going out flat and the local spend requirement already inside it, prepaid revenue is where the working capital lives.
- The filing gives no median. Only an average is published, which a few large locations can lift on their own.
- The filing gives no profit figure. The filing reports sales and not earnings, so what an owner keeps is not disclosed.
- The filing breaks out no cost lines. Wages, rent and cost of goods are not broken out, so margin cannot be rebuilt from the document.
Questions worth putting to European Wax Center
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.
- Which factors does European Wax Center see in its highest-selling locations, such as trade area, years open and size?
- 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 European Wax Center locations closed, were sold, or changed hands last year, and why?
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check 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. It checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →Which benchmark applies to your center?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around the $1,024,725 mature average, the $902,437 all-center one. What your prepaid balance is doing to working capital.
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European Wax Center reads against the rest of the salon, lash, wax and tan group: Amazing Lash Studio · Blo Blow Dry Bar · Drybar · Hammer & Nails · The Lash Lounge · Waxing the City. The salon, lash, wax and tan 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?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- At what point do spreadsheets stop coping?It explains what changes at around ten units and why lenders care.
- I run several locations. Which ones actually make money?It shows each location's contribution to profit and the reporting it takes to see it.
Where these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from EWC Franchisor LLC’s 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brand. Calculations of our own are labeled where they appear, the figures describe past performance at other businesses, company results quoted on this page come from the franchisor’s parent’s own public filings and releases. This page is an educational summary and is not legal or tax advice. European Wax Center® is a registered trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.
These figures come from the brand's disclosure. They are not a forecast, an offer to sell a franchise or advice. Source: EWC Franchisor LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 23 April 2026.