Hand & Stone franchise unit economics
Hand & Stone franchisees run massage and facial spas that sell recurring memberships, massage and facial services, product retail and gift cards.
Hand & Stone in the news
- HAND AND STONE MASSAGE AND FACIAL SPA Franchise Disclosure Document, registered October 16, 2026 · Minnesota Department of Commerce ·
The Hand & Stone headline above is the publisher's own and links to the publisher. Averan Advisors checked this Hand & Stone link on 11 October 2026. Franchise news lists news on 95 brands, including Hand & Stone. Hand & Stone is in the Massage and Facial franchise guide.
Hand & Stone franchise at a glance
Hand & Stone’s Item 19 reports 2025 gross sales for 570 franchised spas open all year, by service line and quartile, and four cost categories for 134 of them.
Hand & Stone’s 134 spas that reported expenses averaged $1,402,246 of gross sales in 2025, with a median of $1,280,006, according to Item 19 of Hand & Stone’s 2026 FDD, issued 6 April 2026. The 134 in that group are 22%* of Hand & Stone’s 600 locations. Fees paid to Hand & Stone come to about 7%* of sales.
- A Hand & Stone franchise costs $330,791 to $864,729 to open, according to the brand's 2026 FDD.
- Hand & Stone charges a royalty of 6% of sales and a 1% brand fund contribution.
- At the average Hand & Stone location, wages took 50.3% and rent and space costs took 10% of sales.
- Work out Hand & Stone's fees at your own sales with the minimum fee calculator.
- Hand & Stone’s CEO, who arrived in July 2026, says improving franchisee unit-level economics is her job.
These figures come from Hand & Stone's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
Own this franchise?
See what your numbers should look like every month.
Talk to Averan → Move your books and accounting to Averan →- Moving labor from the 50.3% average to the top quartile's 48.1% is worth $587 a week, about one shift. Labor runs 48.1% of sales at the top quartile and 57.2% at the bottom, excluding whatever you pay yourself.
- In the bottom quarter, the disclosed costs exceed the sales. $666,122 of sales against $744,379 of costs, before the owner is paid anything.
- The bottom quartile pays less rent in dollars and a higher share of sales. Hand & Stone's bottom quartile pays $120,772 against $161,100 at the top, and that is 18.1% of its sales against 6.7%.
- The published cost benchmarks come from 134 of 570 outlets. The other 436 Hand & Stone spas sold less at every quartile, so expect to run heavier than the table.
- Gift card sales of $146,413 a year arrive before the service is delivered. Cash in the door against a service owed on a date nobody knows.
How much does a Hand & Stone franchise make?
The average Hand & Stone unit reported $1,402,246 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $1,280,006. Item 19 of the Hand & Stone FDD publishes gross sales and expenses by quartile for 134 franchised outlets that reported expenses, and what an owner keeps depends on the costs set out below. Fees come off the top first, at about 7% 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.
How the business works
Gross sales for outlets that reported expenses
| quartile | Reported expenses | Avg gross sales | Silent | Avg gross sales | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 25% | 34 | $2,390,658 | 109 | $2,197,412 | +$193,246 |
| Second 25% | 33 | $1,480,937 | 109 | $1,436,375 | +$44,562 |
| Third 25% | 33 | $1,063,624 | 109 | $1,014,552 | +$49,072 |
| Bottom 25% | 34 | $666,122 | 109 | $608,656 | +$57,466 |
Both sets of figures are disclosed; placing them side by side and taking the difference is marked *.
Read the cost table on the next tab knowing this: the spas that sent in their numbers outsold the rest at every level. The benchmarks there describe 134 of Hand & Stone's 570 spas, the ones selling more at each rank. So if your own percentages sit a little above them you are closer to the middle than the table suggests.
Sales by service line and quartile, 2025
| quartile | Outlets | Gross sales | Massage | Facial | Product | Gift cards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 25% | 135 | $2,277,452 | $1,269,636 | $606,704 | $86,425 | $241,393 |
| Second 25% | 143 | $1,469,435 | $891,168 | $386,839 | $54,502 | $161,006 |
| Third 25% | 145 | $1,042,031 | $640,429 | $272,890 | $38,227 | $113,029 |
| Bottom 25% | 147 | $627,439 | $419,971 | $160,635 | $20,769 | $77,919 |
| All franchised | 570 | $1,334,936 | $795,502 | $351,588 | $49,223 | $146,413 |
Each service line is split into quarters on its own, so read each row as quartile averages of each measure instead of as one outlet's income statement.
The highest-selling spas lean less on the massage table than the lowest-selling one. Massage is two thirds of sales at the bottom and a little over half at the top, while facials hold steady at about a quarter everywhere. Something else fills that gap at the top, and it stays unnamed, worth asking a top-performing franchisee directly.
Top performers
What separates the top Hand & Stone performers
Hand & Stone splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The top group averaged $2,390,658 a year. The lowest averaged $666,122. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $1,280,006. The average was $1,402,246. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Site and trade area.The top band sells 3.6× the bottom band. Catchment, daytime population and neighboring businesses affect where a location falls.
- Opening cost range.Opening costs $330,791 to $864,729, a 2.6× range inside one brand.
- Lease cost.Occupancy cost ran 10.0% of sales in this filing. Rent stays the same when sales fall, so it takes a larger share of sales at lower-selling locations.
Live operating levers
- Wages.Wages take 50.3% of sales.
- Occupancy cost.Rent and building costs take 10.0% of sales here. The rent is fixed when the lease is signed, so this share falls only as sales per square foot rise.
- Membership drives the model.Track how many members join, how many cancel, and what each member spends beyond the plan.
- Gift cards.Gift cards are sold before the service is delivered, and sales peak around the holidays. A gift card is deferred revenue until it is redeemed, so cash and earned revenue arrive in different periods.
- Fees.Hand & Stone’s fees run about 7.0% of sales, and Hand & Stone sets no minimum royalty.
Context you underwrite around
- Locations included.These figures cover 134 of 600 locations. Locations open less than the full year, brand-owned, or not meeting the reporting criteria are excluded.
- What the filing does not include.Item 19 of the Hand & Stone FDD publishes gross sales and expenses by quartile for 134 franchised outlets that reported expenses. Ask the franchisor or current owners for any cost line the filing leaves out.
The costs
Sales and expenses by quartile, 2025
| Line | Top 25% | Second 25% | Third 25% | Bottom 25% | All 134 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets | 34 | 33 | 33 | 34 | 134 |
| Gross sales | $2,390,658 | $1,480,937 | $1,063,624 | $666,122 | $1,402,246 |
| Labor and benefits | $1,150,560 | $740,179 | $544,536 | $381,024 | $704,996 |
| as % of gross sales | 48.1% | 50.0% | 51.2% | 57.2% | 50.3% |
| Building costs | $161,100 | $140,627 | $137,805 | $120,772 | $140,089 |
| as % of gross sales | 6.7% | 9.5% | 13.0% | 18.1% | 10.0% |
| Royalties and national marketing | $182,704 | $107,379 | $76,463 | $48,392 | $103,911 |
| as % of gross sales | 7.6% | 7.3% | 7.2% | 7.3% | 7.4% |
| Other operating costs | $471,115 | $322,636 | $271,065 | $194,191 | $315,019 |
| as % of gross sales | 19.7% | 21.8% | 25.5% | 29.2% | 22.5% |
| Sales less these four lines | $425,179 | $170,116 | $33,755 | −$78,257 | $138,231 |
| as % of gross sales | 17.8% | 11.5% | 3.2% | −11.7% | 9.9% |
Treat this residual as a gross figure, well above real profit.
Rent is the line that punishes a slow spa. The bottom quarter pays less rent in dollars than the highest-selling ($120,772 against $161,100) and nearly three times as much as a share of sales, because there is so much less revenue to spread it over.
Labor works the same way, more gently. You need a front desk and a minimum roster whether the book is full or empty. So labor runs 48.1% of sales at the top and 57.2% at the bottom. The only cost that scales cleanly with you is royalty and national marketing, at about 7.3% wherever you sit.
That means the middle of this system is tighter than it looks. A spa at $1,063,624 of sales has $33,755 left after those four costs. That is still before it pays the owner anything, covers depreciation, or meets the costs left out. Below that, the four costs exceed sales.
What the gaps are worth in a week. At the average spa, pulling labor from 50.3% to the top quarter's 48.1% is $587 a week, about one shift. Pulling labor from the bottom quarter's 57.2% to the average is $884 a week. The step from the third quartile to the second is $8,025 a week of service revenue. We calculated these from the disclosed figures.
Company-owned spas, 2025
The franchisor's own spas earn far more than the franchised average, and you will probably be shown that. Fourteen of the fifteen sit in Florida, so read it as one market's result.
| Line | Average | As % of gross sales |
|---|---|---|
| Gross sales | $2,281,726 | n/a |
| Labor and benefits | $1,090,504 | 47.8% |
| Building costs | $151,965 | 6.7% |
| Royalties and national marketing | $158,507 | 6.9% |
| Other operating costs | $412,464 | 18.1% |
| Sales less these four lines | $468,286 | 20.5% |
Dollar figures as disclosed; percentages and the residual are marked * and have the same exclusions.
Discounts available
- Hand & Stone takes 20% off the fee for honorably discharged U.S. veterans under VetFran ($39,600 instead of $49,500 for a new franchisee).
- Hand & Stone charges existing franchisees $39,500 for each additional spa ($31,600 for veterans).
- Hand & Stone charges $34,500 per spa ($103,500 for a three-spa minimum) under an Area Development Agreement, or $27,600 per spa for veterans.
From Item 5 of the Hand & Stone 2026 FDD. The costs on this page use the full initial franchise fee for one unit, before any discount.
What the money side covers
Ongoing fees
| Fee | Rate | Paid to | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty Fee | 6% of Gross Sales | Franchisor | Weekly |
| Marketing Fund Contribution | 1% of Gross Sales, may rise to 2% | Franchisor | Weekly |
| Local Advertising Fee | 4% of Gross Sales, minimum $400 per month | Your own market | Weekly |
| Total paid to the franchisor on gross sales | 7% | Franchisor | Weekly |
As the brand reported it.
Two different numbers get quoted here and the difference is real money. About 7.4% of sales goes to the franchisor. Eleven percent leaves your control. The extra four points are local advertising, where you choose the how and the agreement fixes the whether. It has a $400 monthly minimum that holds steady as your sales move.
Hand & Stone and Massage Envy, unit economics
| Measure | Hand & Stone | Massage Envy |
|---|---|---|
| Average sales and the group it covers | $1,402,246 across the 134 spas that reported expenses, 2025 calendar year | $1,210,966 across 989 locations, fiscal 2025 |
| Median sales | $1,280,006 | $1,136,666 |
| Share of locations in that group | 22%* (134 of 600) | 99.6%* (989 of 993) |
| Fees paid to the brand | 7%* of sales (6% royalty and 1% marketing fund) | 9.09%* of sales (6% royalty, 2% National Advertising Fund and about $1,095 a month of technology fees) |
| Royalty | 6% of gross sales, paid weekly | 6% of gross sales, paid weekly |
| Brand fund | 1% of gross sales, which may rise to 2% | 2% of gross sales to the National Advertising Fund |
| Initial franchise fee | $49,500 | $45,000 |
| Cost to open | $330,791 to $864,729 | $712,870 to $1,046,506 |
| Locations at the end of 2025 | 600 franchised spas, 615 with the company-owned spas | 993 locations |
| Profit measure the FDD prints | No profit figure for franchised spas. Item 19 prints labor and benefits, building costs, royalties and national marketing, and other operating costs for the 134 spas. | No profit figure. Massage Envy’s 2026 FDD does not disclose an average profit figure. |
Hand & Stone: Hand and Stone Franchise LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 6 April 2026. Massage Envy: ME SPE Franchising, LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 29 April 2026. Each brand’s figures are for its own reporting group, as its own FDD reports them.
Questions we get asked
How much does a Hand & Stone franchise make?
Hand & Stone’s 134 spas that reported expenses averaged $1,402,246 of gross sales in 2025, with a median of $1,280,006, according to Item 19 of Hand & Stone’s 2026 FDD, issued 6 April 2026. The 134 in that group are 22%* of Hand & Stone’s 600 locations. Fees paid to Hand & Stone come to about 7%* of sales.
Does Hand & Stone disclose whether franchisees make money?
Partly. Four cost categories cover 134 of the 570 spas. Take them off sales and the average spa has $138,231 left on $1,402,246 of sales. Treat that as a gross figure: it sits above your own pay, depreciation, and everything left out. Your real number is lower, by an amount left unquantified.
Why does it matter that only 134 outlets reported expenses at Hand & Stone?
It matters because the other 436 sold less, between 3.1% and 9.4% less at the same rank. The cost picture comes from the spas that were selling better, so it flatters the system. Plan on higher costs than it shows.
What is the biggest cost in a Hand & Stone spa, and where is the room in it?
Labor is the largest by far, about half of sales, excluding your own pay. The nine points between the top quartile at 48.1% and the bottom at 57.2% are the largest recoverable sum here, and they come from schedule density. Rent averages 10.0% and reaches 18.1% at the bottom, where only sales close the gap.
Which number should I measure my Hand & Stone spa against?
Measure your spa against your own quartile. Across all 570 franchised spas open a full year, the average is $1,334,936 and the median $1,236,266, but the range runs $145,813 to $4,394,479, so the system figure describes nobody. Find your quartile in the sales table, read across to the cost table, and the gaps there are your year's work.
Who does bookkeeping for a Hand & Stone franchise?
A good deal of what sits in your bank account is service you still owe. Memberships bill monthly in advance and become revenue as the massage is given. Prepaid packages work the same way and draw down visit by visit. Gift cards are a third pile (the average spa sells $146,413 of them a year) cash today against a service owed on a date nobody knows, with rules that differ by state.
On the cost side, split labor between front desk, massage therapists and estheticians. Build the chart of accounts around those same four categories, with local advertising inside other operating. You can compare yourself to the system without rebuilding your numbers every time. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
- Item 19 of the Hand & Stone FDD gives no profit after every cost. It publishes gross sales and expenses by quartile for 134 franchised outlets that reported expenses, so what an owner keeps after all costs is not disclosed.
Questions worth putting to Hand & Stone
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- How would wages and rent at a new Hand & Stone location compare with the figures in the filing? Item 19 of the Hand & Stone FDD publishes gross sales and expenses by quartile for 134 franchised outlets that reported expenses.
- Which factors does Hand & Stone 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 Hand & Stone 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 →Run these numbers against your own location.
We review your unit economics, cash forecast and reporting, so you know where you stand against the disclosed averages.
Talk to AveranWhere these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from Hand and Stone Franchise LLC's 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us, we are unaffiliated with the brand, the figures describe past performance at other spas, calculations of our own are labeled where they appear. This page is an educational summary and is not legal or tax advice. Hand & Stone® 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: Hand and Stone Franchise LLC, 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, issued 6 April 2026.
the franchise library, all 447 brands · how franchise unit economics work · running the books across several locations · what Averan does for franchise owners
Hand & Stone reads against the rest of the massage and facial group: Elements Massage · Heights Wellness Retreat · Massage Envy · MassageLuXe · The NOW Massage. The massage and facial 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.
- Money arrives before the service does. How should that be booked?It explains deferred revenue and why the bank balance and the profit line disagree.
- 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.
- 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.
- How much of Item 19 can I rely on?It explains what an Item 19 financial performance representation tells you and what it leaves out.