Grooming and pet retail franchise finance
Averan read the 2026 FDDs of seven grooming and pet retail brands.
The median brand here reports average revenue of $697,170 an unit. Percentage fees at the median brand come to 8.2% of sales. The median cost to open runs $191,350 to $560,300.
Find a grooming and pet retail brand
7 brands in this guide, each from its own 2026 FDD. Open one, or pick two and compare them.
The brands in this group
Each brand has its own business model breakdown, with every figure set out against the brand’s disclosure document it comes from.
- Aussie Pet Mobilefleet-size-groups · Sales by fleet size with full quartiles, two years, plus system-wide lead counts
- EarthWise Pethistorical-plus-projected · Projected models traced line by line back to the historical tables they were built from
- Pet Supplies Plussales-margin-rent-and-labor-by-years open-group-with-average-median-high-low · Four cohort carrying gross sales, gross profit, rent and labor each with average, median, high, low and attainment
- Scenthoundquartile-plus-group · Membership counts and dog visits by quartile, a month-by-month first-year build-up, and a full
- Wag N Washtop/bottom/average gross sales, gross profit, rent and labor with per-metric medians and ranges · Sixty-six cents of margin, and fifty-one of
- Woof Gang Bakerystore-age-group-plus-model · Revenue and mix by store age across four nested group, plus a filed twelve-month model
- Zoomin Groomin No financial performance representation · Area_rep_per_unit_territory
The figures, brand by brand
| Measure | Median | Brands | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average sales per unit | $697,170 | 6 of 7 | Median of each brand’s disclosed average |
| Median sales per unit | $592,765 | 5 of 7 | Median of each brand’s disclosed median |
| Initial franchise fee | $49,900 | 7 of 7 | |
| Royalty | 4% | 7 of 7 | Headline rate |
| Brand or advertising fund | 1.5% | 7 of 7 | |
| Percentage fees, all in | 8.2% | 6 of 7 | Royalty, funds and local marketing set as a share of sales |
| Cost to open, low | $191,350 | 7 of 7 | |
| Cost to open, high | $560,300 | 7 of 7 | |
| Profit margin | 11.5% | 3 of 7 | Each brand’s own profit line; definitions differ |
| Labor, share of revenue | 39.8% | 4 of 7 | |
| Building costs, share of revenue | 10.1% | 5 of 7 | |
| Unit growth, 2025 | 10.6% | 4 of 7 | (End − start) ÷ start |
| Customers lost, 2025 | Fewer than three disclose | 2 of 7 | Terminated, non-renewed, reacquired and ceased, ÷ opening units; transfers excluded |
Each figure is the median of the brands that disclose it, and the Brands column counts them.
How we calculated this
Revenue is each brand's own reported figure on its own unit basis, so the median describes the group and no single brand. Growth and customers lost are our calculations from each brand's outlet table. Where fewer than three brands disclose a figure, no benchmark is shown.
The model
The business model the top performers in grooming and pet retail are running
What the top performers can do that others cannot
4 of the 7 brands here sell a grooming or a stay. 6 of them run a recurring plan, and turning a first visit into a standing arrangement is a skill in itself. Rostering against demand is the constraint: wages run 39.8% of sales at the middle brand, more than any other line.
What the customer is buying
The customer buys a visit that repeats if the pet is happy. At 2 of them the model is different: the customer buys a service booked when it is needed, which asks something else of the owner. A location at the middle brand sells $697,170 a year; the top group sells $1,819,488. The offer is the same at both ends of that range, so the difference is volume rather than product. At 7 of them the top performers widen the offer rather than the building: retail and higher service tiers raise what an hour earns without adding an hour.
Who the customer is, and how often they come back
This is a retention business. The money is made in the second year of a customer, not the first month, so the number that decides the year is how many stay. A median 44% of locations reach their own brand’s average, so most of the system is below the number the brand advertises, and the gap is usually a demand gap rather than an effort gap. The top group sells $1,819,488 against $290,202 at the bottom. Trade area and site set that range before an owner takes a booking.
How the money works
Opening costs $78,300 to $1,818,900 across the group, and inside one brand the top of the range is typically 2.9 times the bottom. At the middle brand the cost stack runs wages 39.8%, occupancy 10.1%, cost of sales 42.4%, franchise fees 8.2% of sales. What is left runs 11.5% at the middle brand, which is $209,241 a year at the top group and $33,373 at the bottom. The percentage barely moves between them; the dollars do. 4 of these brands publish how a new location builds up, so the first year can be read out of the document instead of guessed at.
Also disclosed across this group: $16,732, $176,733, $2,622,279, $21,612, $461,041, $6,972, $62,745, 15.6.
Top performers
These are the things that separate top performers in grooming and pet retail
At the typical grooming and pet retail brand, the best group of locations sells $1,819,488 a year. The worst group sells $290,202. That is $1,529,286 more a year, 6.3 times over, for the same brand on the same agreement. Across these brands, a median of 44% of locations reach their own brand’s average. The average describes the top of a system, not the middle. 6 of the 7 brands here publish bands; the rest disclose no spread at all.
Decided before you open
- What it costs to open.Opening costs run $78,300 to $1,818,900 across the group, and the top of a single brand’s range is typically 2.9 times its bottom. The top group sells $1,819,488 a year against a build that tops out at $1,818,900, so at the heavy end of the range a location sells $1.00 for every dollar it cost to open. A build that heavy takes years of sales to recover, so the site has to be right the first time.
- What a location sells.Average sales run $697,170 at the middle brand and $1,819,488 at the top group. Format and site decide most of that before an owner does anything, which is why the same operator produces different results in different trade areas.
- Rent is one number, and it lands twice.Occupancy runs 10.1% of sales at the middle brand, which on median sales of $697,170 is $70,414 of rent a year. That same $70,414 is 3.9% of sales at the top group and 24.3% at the bottom. Nobody negotiated a worse lease. The top performers move this line by putting more sales through the same square footage: longer earning hours, a second daypart, and a site picked for traffic rather than for the rate.
Live operating levers
- 7 of the 7 brands here can widen what they sell without widening the building.Selling a product alongside the service, or moving customers onto a higher tier of it, raises what an hour of the same room earns. It is the only way to lift the ceiling without spending money on more space or more hours.
- 6 of the 7 brands here run a recurring plan.A plan turns a business that waits for the phone to ring into one that knows roughly what next month looks like, and that predictability is what lets an owner staff properly. It is built by asking the customer to book the next visit before they walk out, not by spending more on marketing afterwards.
- 4 of the 7 brands here sell a groom or a stay.The owner counts how many pets come through in a day and how many of those come back within the month. A groom that repeats every six weeks is worth far more than one that happens once, and the difference shows up in the year. They are EarthWise Pet, Pet Supplies Plus, Wag N Wash, Zoomin Groomin.
- 4 of the 7 brands here publish how a new location builds up.Where a brand shows its first year month by month, an owner can see when sales finally cover the costs and how much cash has to be put in before that point arrives. Where a brand does not show it, that curve has to be guessed at, and the guess is usually optimistic. They are Pet Supplies Plus, Scenthound, Wag N Wash, Woof Gang Bakery.
- 2 of the 7 brands here sell a visit at a time.The owner counts how many visits happen, what each one is worth, and how many customers book the next one before they leave. The last of those three is what separates a busy week from a full calendar next month. They are Aussie Pet Mobile, Woof Gang Bakery.
- Wages. Same labor market, different result.Wages run 39.8% of sales at the middle brand and 14.4% to 49.3% across the 4 that disclose it. These brands hire from the same pool at the same rates, so a 35-point spread is not a pay-rate gap. It is scheduling and productivity: rostering against booked demand hour by hour, managing sales per paid hour as the number, and keeping enough of the pay variable that the line falls when the week is quiet. On the top group’s $1,819,488 of sales, a point of wages is $18,195 a year; on the bottom group’s $290,202 it is $2,902. The same discipline is worth more where the volume already is.
- Cost of what you sell. The line that compounds.Products and materials take 42.4% of sales at the middle brand, 33.4% to 62.2% across the 4 that disclose it. Buying on the brand program rather than locally, holding the price list instead of discounting to close, and counting waste weekly are what separate the ends of that range, and each of them compounds with volume, which is why the gap widens as a location grows.
- What is left at the end. Where the gap comes from.Of the 3 brands that publish a profit line, the middle one keeps 11.5% of sales, from 9.2% to 13.9%. The cost lines above move by a few points between the best and worst locations while sales move by multiples, so the top performers are not running a cheaper business. They are running the same cost base over more revenue. Hold that 11.5% margin steady and the top group earns $209,241 against $33,373 at the bottom, a difference of $175,868 a year that comes from volume alone.
- What the brand charges. The line that works backwards.Fees run a median 8.2% of sales across 6 brands, from 5.2% to 16.2%. Where a minimum sits underneath the percentage, the weakest location pays the highest effective rate, so the fee line costs most exactly where it can least be afforded. The top performers clear the minimum early and stop thinking about it. At $1,819,488 the fees cost $150,108 a year; at $290,202 they cost $23,942. The percentage is the same and the burden is not.
Context you underwrite around
- How many brands show a ramp.4 of 7 filings in this group show how a new location builds up. For the rest the first year has to be assumed, and the assumption is usually wrong in the same direction.
- What is not banded.1 brands publish no bands at all, so their spread is unknown rather than narrow. Read a single average as the upper-middle of a distribution you cannot see.
Operating levers
What each brand’s top performers actually work on
The levers the filing supports, brand by brand. Three to five each, read from that brand’s own 2026 FDD. Filter by type of business, or open a brand for the figures underneath.
7 brands
Aussie Pet Mobile
Grooming and pet retail
- Visits, the operating driver. This model bills on visits. The owner watches how many visits happen, what each one is worth, and how many customers book the next one before they leave. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- 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 16.2% 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.
EarthWise Pet
Grooming and pet retail
- Cost of what you sell. Products and materials take 37.1% of sales, against 9.2% kept at the end. Buying terms, price discipline and waste are where this is won, and each of them compounds at volume. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 10.1% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Pets served, the operating driver. This model bills on pets served. The owner counts how many pets come through in a day and how many come back within the month. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- 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.
Pet Supplies Plus
Grooming and pet retail
- Cost of what you sell. Products and materials take 62.2% of sales. Buying terms, price discipline and waste are where this is won, and each of them compounds at volume.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 7.0% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Pets served, the operating driver. This model bills on pets served. The owner counts how many pets come through in a day and how many come back within the month. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- 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.
Scenthound
Grooming and pet retail
- Wages, the dominant line. Wages take 48.8% of sales, against 11.5% kept at the end. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 10.3% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because 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 13.1% 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.
Wag N Wash
Grooming and pet retail
- Cost of what you sell. Products and materials take 33.4% of sales. Buying terms, price discipline and waste are where this is won, and each of them compounds at volume.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 10.1% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Pets served, the operating driver. This model bills on pets served. The owner counts how many pets come through in a day and how many come back within the month. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- 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.
Woof Gang Bakery
Grooming and pet retail
- Wages, the dominant line. Wages take 49.3% of sales, against 13.9% kept at the end. Staff productivity, scheduling against demand hour by hour, and the balance of base pay to commission are where this is won. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Occupancy, the line that does not flex. Rent and building costs take 9.5% of sales here. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, because the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Visits, the operating driver. This model bills on visits. The owner watches how many visits happen, what each one is worth, and how many customers book the next one before they leave. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- 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.
Zoomin Groomin
Grooming and pet retail
- Pets served, the operating driver. This model bills on pets served. The owner counts how many pets come through in a day and how many come back within the month. It is worth watching every week, because by the time it turns up in a monthly close the quarter is half gone.
- Membership and rebooking. A recurring plan turns a high-fixed-cost business from an appointment book into a subscription, which smooths the utilisation that drives the wage line. Rebooking before the customer leaves is what builds it, not marketing spend afterwards.
- 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.
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.
- What should I be looking at every week?The handful of numbers that move before the P&L does.
- Do I need a bookkeeper, a controller, or a CFO?What each one owns, and the point at which the next one pays for itself.
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 revenue releases your brand’s minimum?
A structured review of your unit economics, cash forecast. Reporting, built around the crossover point where a percentage overtakes your minimums, occupancy cost read as a percentage every month. A profit line that shows your own pay as a cost.
Request the reviewWhere these figures come from
Every figure here comes from the brands' 2026 FDDs and is unaudited by us. We are unaffiliated with the brands. The medians, growth and customers lost figures are our own calculations. The figures describe past performance at other businesses. They are not a projection of your results. This page is an educational summary and is not an offer to sell a franchise or financial, legal or tax advice. All trademarks belong to their owners. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.