MY SALON Suite franchise unit economics
MY SALON Suite franchisees build out a 5,000 to 8,000 square foot space into about 31 private salon suites and license them to independent beauty professionals on monthly agreements. 264 franchised locations open a full year averaged $454,838 of revenue on 87.7% occupancy, with rent taking 34.8% of that and Profit 39.7%. The whole model is the difference between what the landlord charges you and what you charge the stylist.
- Primary source
- Suite Management Franchising, LLC, 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
- 264 of 320 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.
This is a range business. The top quarter pays its landlord $346 a month for each suite it builds and collects $1,527 a month from each suite it fills, a multiple of 4.4. The bottom quarter pays $497 and collects $1,250, a multiple of 2.5. Same brand, same suite count, and the difference between 54.4% Profit and 17.3% is written into the lease before anyone opens the door.
- Rent takes 24.9% of revenue at the top quarter and 50.3% at the bottom. The bottom quarter pays $43,203 more rent in dollars while billing $190,544 less.
- The top quarter pays $346 a month of rent per suite and collects $1,527 per occupied suite; the bottom pays $497 and collects $1,250. $21.64 a square foot against $31.12.
- Profit runs 54.4% of revenue at the top quarter and 17.3% at the bottom, with a minimum of a $145,600 loss. $297,198 against $61,399 on revenue of $546,468 and $355,924.
- Occupancy is 91.2% at the top quarter and 79.1% at the bottom. 12.1 points, or 3.6 suites on a 30-suite location, $54,000 a year at the bottom quarter's own rate.
- A new build costs $994,971 to $1,820,417; converting an existing salon-suite business costs $66,490 to $312,685. Improvements alone run $584,031 to $1,163,497 on a new build.
How much does a MY SALON Suite franchise make?
The average MY SALON Suite unit reported $454,838 of revenue in the 2026 FDD, and the median reported $438,909. The filing puts the profit line at 39.7% of revenue. Fees come off the top first, at about 5.5% 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.
Top performers
What separates the top MY SALON Suite performers
MY SALON Suite splits its locations into groups instead of publishing one average. The best group averaged $546,468 a year. The worst averaged $355,924. Both run the same brand, on the same agreement, paying the same fees. The middle location sold $438,909. The average was $454,838. More than half the system is below the number the brand quotes.
Decided before you open
- Trade area and site.A 1.5× 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 192 square feet. What you can sell is set by the build, and the build does not change after opening.
- What you spend to open.Opening costs $994,971 to $1,820,417, a 1.8× 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 34.8% 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 34.8% of sales, against 39.7% kept at the end. 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. Small movements here move the result more than anything else, because nothing else in the structure is that large.
- Suites rented, the operating driver.This model bills on suites rented. The suites are built once and then let, so the business is how many are occupied and how long each tenant stays. 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 5.5% 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.264 of 320 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 attainment figure. The brand’s own locations are the only margin signal in the document, and they are run by the people who wrote the playbook.
How much locations differ
264 locations, top to bottom.
| Line | All 264 | Top quartile (66) | Bottom quartile (66) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupancy | 87.7% | 91.2% | 79.1% |
| Square footage | 6,013 | 6,277 | 5,753 |
| Suites | 31.0 | 32.7 | 30.0 |
| Gross revenue | $454,838 | $546,468 | $355,924 |
| General operating expense | $90,969 (20.0%) | $83,368 (15.3%) | $95,900 (26.9%) |
| Rent | $158,167 (34.8%) | $135,847 (24.9%) | $179,050 (50.3%) |
| Royalties | $25,016 (5.5%) | $30,056 (5.5%) | $19,576 (5.5%) |
| Profit | $180,687 (39.7%) | $297,198 (54.4%) | $61,399 (17.3%) |
| Median revenue | $438,909 | $526,984 | $351,873 |
| Median Profit | $171,735 | $286,435 | $73,219 |
| Highest / lowest revenue | $1,325,611 / $113,811 | $1,325,611 / $218,355 | $669,993 / $113,811 |
| Highest / lowest Profit | $664,154 / −$145,600 | $664,154 / $110,121 | $192,958 / −$145,600 |
As the brand reported it, from figures franchisees reported under the monthly royalty and occupancy reporting procedure, unaudited and unverified by the franchisor.
The bottom quarter pays $43,203 more rent than the top quarter and bills $190,544 less. $179,050 against $135,847, on revenue of $355,924 against $546,468. Recovering that through operations is beyond what this model allows. The lease sets the outcome. The bottom quarter signed a worse one on a smaller space.
Rent is $21.64 a square foot at the top quarter and $31.12 at the bottom. A 44% difference in the price of the same commodity, inline retail space. The top quarter also takes 524 more square feet and fits 2.7 more suites into it. So it is buying more space at a lower price and cutting it into more sellable units.
General operating expense is 15.3% of revenue at the top quarter and 26.9% at the bottom. $83,368 against $95,900, so the bottom quarter spends $12,532 more running a smaller building. Combined with rent, the two lines account for 40.2% of revenue at the top and 77.2% at the bottom. That is the whole 37-point Profit gap plus a little.
Royalty is 5.5% of revenue at every group, to the decimal. $30,056, $25,016 and $19,576. One of the few genuinely flat fee schedules in franchising. It means franchise fees cost you the same proportion whether your lease is good or bad. That puts all of the variance on the two lines you negotiate yourself.
The best location clears $664,154 of Profit and the worst loses $145,600. On revenue of $1,325,611 and $113,811. The loss-making end sits inside the bottom quarter. That still averages $61,399. So the quarter's average hides a distribution that reaches well below zero. The median of $73,219 is above its mean for exactly that reason.
What a suite costs and what a suite earns.
| Measure | All 264 | Top quartile | Bottom quartile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suites built | 31.0 | 32.7 | 30.0 |
| Suites occupied | 27.2 | 29.8 | 23.7 |
| Rent per suite built, a month | $425 | $346 | $497 |
| Revenue per suite built, a month | $1,223 | $1,393 | $989 |
| Revenue per occupied suite, a month | $1,394 | $1,527 | $1,250 |
| Revenue per occupied suite against rent per suite | 3.3 times | 4.4 times | 2.5 times |
| Rent per square foot, a year | $26.30 | $21.64 | $31.12 |
| Square feet per suite | 194 | 192 | 192 |
Ours throughout, dividing the filed averages by each other.
Every location in this system cuts its space into suites of about 192 square feet. 194 across all 264, 192 at both quartiles. So the physical model is fixed and the variables are three. What you pay per square foot, how many of the suites you fill, and what you charge for one.
The top quarter buys a suite's worth of space for $346 a month and sells it for $1,527. The bottom quarter buys at $497 and sells at $1,250. That $151 of extra rent and $277 of lost license fee is $428 a suite a month. That across 30 suites is $154,080 a year. The actual Profit gap between the two quartiles is $235,799.
Revenue per occupied suite varies less than rent does. $1,250 to $1,527 is a 22% range; rent per suite runs $346 to $497, a 44% range. What a stylist will pay for a suite is set by the local market and moves within a narrow group. What a landlord will charge you is negotiable, and that is where the money is.
Fees and what it costs to open
The fee schedule.
| Band | Revenue | Royalty 5.5% | Brand building fund | Technology | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top quarter average | $546,468 | $30,056 | $2,400 | $2,040 | $34,496 | 6.31% |
| All 264, average | $454,838 | $25,016 | $2,400 | $2,040 | $29,456 | 6.48% |
| All 264, median | $438,909 | $24,140 | $2,400 | $2,040 | $28,580 | 6.51% |
| Bottom quarter average | $355,924 | $19,576 | $2,400 | $2,040 | $24,016 | 6.75% |
| Lowest location disclosed | $113,811 | $12,000 | $2,400 | $2,040 | $16,440 | 14.44% |
Ours, applying the filed schedule: royalty at 2.75% of gross revenues for the first six months, 5.5% for months seven to twelve. Then the greater of 5.5% or $1,000 a month from month thirteen. That is why the lowest location shown pays the $12,000 annual minimum instead of 5.5%. The minimum governs below $218,182 of revenue.
The load is 6.31% of revenue at the top quarter and 6.75% at the bottom. Under half a point of difference, because only $4,440 a year is fixed. This is one of the lightest and flattest fee stacks in franchising. It is a genuine feature of the model. The fees take very little, and the landlord takes 34.8%.
The brand building fund could rise from $2,400 a year to 2% of revenue. At the system average that is $9,097, an increase of $6,697 on notice. Worth modeling, because the current $200 a month is 0.53% of average revenue and the ceiling is nearly four times that.
Royalty runs at 2.75% for the first six months and 5.5% thereafter. On a location building up toward the system's $454,838, that half-rate period is worth about $6,254, set against a 64.5% occupancy at six months and a build costing up to $1.8 million. The relief is real and it is small.
What it costs to open.
| Line | New build low | New build high | Conversion low | Conversion high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Improvements | $584,031 | $1,163,497 | $0 | $50,000 |
| Furniture and fixtures | $250,111 | $357,007 | $0 | $50,000 |
| Initial franchise fee | $50,000 | $50,000 | $50,000 | $50,000 |
| Additional funds, three months | $35,000 | $65,000 | $0 | $30,000 |
| Grand opening advertising | $20,000 | $20,000 | $7,000 | $15,000 |
| Architectural services | $11,100 | $44,800 | n/a | n/a |
| Operating supplies | $10,000 | $10,000 | n/a | n/a |
| Signage | $7,490 | $10,185 | $7,490 | $10,185 |
| Rent and deposits | $6,927 | $27,636 | $0 | $18,000 |
| Professional fees, permits, freight, insurance, travel and franchisor fees | $20,312 | $72,292 | $2,000 | $14,500 |
| Buyer's side broker fee | n/a | n/a | $0 | $75,000 |
| Total | $994,971 | $1,820,417 | $66,490 | $312,685 |
As the brand reported it, except one grouped line in each column. That is marked *: for a new build, professional fees with licensing and permitting, the permit expeditor, freight, insurance for three months, travel and living expenses, the design standards fee and the project management fee. For a conversion, professional fees with travel and living expenses, insurance and the design standards fee.
Improvements and fixtures are $834,142 to $1,520,504 of a new build. 84% of the low total and 84% of the high. You are building 31 private rooms with plumbing, power and doors inside a retail shell. That is what a suite business costs, against average revenue of $454,838, the low end is 1.8 years of the entire top line.
A conversion costs $66,490 to $312,685 against a new build's $994,971 to $1,820,417. Fifteen times less at the low end. The conversion table has a buyer's side broker fee of up to $75,000. That shows independent salon-suite businesses change hands often enough to have a brokerage around them. Buying one skips the 64.5% first-six-months occupancy entirely.
Three months of additional funds is $35,000 to $65,000 on a build of up to $1.82 million. A location at six months runs 64.5% occupancy, which on 31 suites at the system's $1,394 is $27,873 a month against a rent bill averaging $13,181. The reserve funds the gap between those two numbers for a quarter, and the climb to 88.3% takes another eighteen months.
Rent and occupancy cost
Occupancy by how long the location has been open.
| Maturity | Franchised occupancy | Franchised units | Company occupancy | Company units | Combined | Total units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open 0 to 6 months | 64.5% | 11 | n/a | 0 | 64.5% | 11 |
| Open 12 months or more | 86.7% | 299 | 88.6% | 49 | 86.9% | 348 |
| Open 24 months or more | 88.3% | 269 | 91.9% | 42 | 88.8% | 311 |
As the brand reported it, measured at December 2025 and calculated as occupied suites divided by available suites.
A location fills to 64.5% inside its first six months and to 88.3% by two years. Just under 24 points of climb, which on a 31-suite location is 7.4 suites. At the system's $1,394 of monthly revenue per occupied suite, that build-up is worth $123,419 a year of revenue arriving between month six and month twenty-four.
Company-owned locations run 3.6 points ahead of franchised ones at two years. 91.9% against 88.3%, on 42 units against 269. At the system average that gap is 1.1 suites, or $18,668 a year. Small, and worth knowing that the operator with the most locations achieves it.
The top quarter runs 91.2% occupancy and the bottom 79.1%. 12.1 points on a 30-suite location is 3.6 empty suites, worth $54,000 a year at the bottom quarter's own rate of $1,250 a month. That is 89% of its entire $61,399 of Profit sitting behind three closed doors.
Occupancy at 100% appears at the top of every group. Including inside the bottom quarter, where one location runs full and still lands in the lowest group by profitability. Full suites at the wrong rent is the failure mode this business has, and it is a lease problem.
The network of locations
The network of locations.
| Year | Franchised start | Opened | Terminated | Franchised end | Company and affiliate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 230 | 43 | 0 | 273 | 48 | 321 |
| 2024 | 273 | 30 | 1 | 302 | 51 | 353 |
| 2025 | 302 | 20 | 2 | 320 | 51 | 371 |
As the brand reported it.
93 locations opened in three years against three departures. 43, then 30, then 20, and two terminations plus one more across the whole period. Very few franchise systems show that ratio, and the reason is structural: a suite business has a landlord, so a weak location bleeds slowly.
Openings halved from 43 to 20 across the period. Which matters for an existing owner more than for a prospective one. Fewer new locations means the reported averages stay weighted toward mature buildings. The 88.3% occupancy at 24 months is the number those averages rest on.
The company and affiliate estate stopped growing in 2025. 33 to 48 to 51 to 51. Those 51 locations run higher occupancy than the franchised ones at every maturity group, and at two years they run 91.9% against 88.3%.
What territory you get.
The protected territory is typically a two-mile radius from your front door, and it may overlap another franchisee's. The franchisor grants it on execution of your lease, sets its boundaries at its sole discretion and may narrow or widen it before you sign. Continuation depends on zero sales thresholds. In dense metropolitan or sparse rural areas it may be considerably smaller or larger, and the franchisor reserves the right to modify those nonstandard territories.
Your territory is tied to a street address. Move the location and the territory may be redrawn, subject to written approval and an amendment to the franchise agreement. On a build costing $584,031 to $1,163,497 in improvements alone, that ties the franchise rights to the lease as tightly as the capital is tied to it.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
What should a location be billing?
The 264 franchised locations meeting the reporting criteria averaged $454,838 of revenue in 2025 with a median of $438,909, ranging from $113,811 to $1,325,611, on an average 31.0 suites at 87.7% occupancy in 6,013 square feet. The top quarter by profitability averaged $546,468 and the bottom quarter $355,924. On a per-suite basis that is $1,394 a month per occupied suite across the system, $1,527 at the top quarter and $1,250 at the bottom.
What does the cost structure look like?
Across all 264: rent 34.8% of revenue ($158,167), general operating expense 20.0% ($90,969) and royalties 5.5% ($25,016), leaving Profit of 39.7% ($180,687) with a median of $171,735. The quartiles separate almost entirely on rent and operating expense. 24.9% and 15.3% at the top against 50.3% and 26.9% at the bottom, producing Profit of 54.4% and 17.3%. General operating expense is cash only and excludes depreciation and amortization; Profit as the brand reported it is after royalty and before debt service and interest.
What does the brand cost in total?
Royalty at 2.75% of gross revenues for the first six months, 5.5% for months seven to twelve, then the greater of 5.5% or $1,000 a month. A brand building fund contribution of at least $200 a month. That may rise to as much as 2% of monthly gross revenues. And a technology fee of $170 a month. That is 6.31% of revenue at the top quarter's volume and 6.75% at the bottom quarter's. Opening a new location costs $994,971 to $1,820,417 including a $50,000 franchise fee and a $20,000 grand opening advertising minimum; a conversion costs $66,490 to $312,685.
How quickly does a location fill?
Franchised locations averaged 64.5% occupancy at zero to six months, 86.7% at twelve months or more and 88.3% at twenty-four months or more, measured at December 2025. Company-owned and affiliate locations ran 88.6% and 91.9% at the same two maturity groups. The top quarter by profitability sits at 91.2% and the bottom at 79.1%. On a 31-suite location, the climb from 64.5% to 88.3% is 7.4 suites, worth about $123,419 a year at the system's rate per occupied suite.
Who does bookkeeping for a MY SALON Suite franchise?
This is a small commercial landlord with a franchise agreement attached, and the close should look like one. Revenue is a rent roll: suite license fees by suite, by tenant, by term. Move-ins, move-outs, concessions, deposits and arrears tracked separately, occupancy is the operating metric the whole model turns on, and it lives in the rent roll. On the expense side, split your base rent from the triple-net and common-area charges your landlord passes through. That matters because those move independently and a CAM reconciliation arriving in month eleven can take a point off the year. And read the Profit benchmark carefully: the franchisor’s own definition deducts operating expense and rent. The filed figures also deduct royalty, so build your like-for-like comparison to match. Averan provides bookkeeping, controller, and fractional CFO support for franchise owners and has Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors on the team.
- No attainment figure. The filing does not say how many locations reached the average it publishes.
Questions worth putting to MY SALON Suite
The filing answers what it answers. These are the gaps an owner or a buyer should close directly.
- Is the profit figure in Item 19 before or after owner pay, and how many locations sit below it?
- 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 MY SALON Suite 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.
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