Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S7127 since 2022
BLINGLE!
Other · independent · est. —
Blingle! is a permanent and event lighting company that designs, installs, and maintains outdoor lighting such as holiday displays, landscape, and patio lighting for homes and businesses. Crews handle installation and takedown. A franchisee runs a local lighting business with installation teams covering a territory.
BLINGLE! net unit count grew +7700.0% from 2021–2024 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Showing strain
Distress
The disclosed record shows weakness — shrinking units, elevated exits, or churn — worth reading closely before going further.
Exit rate · latest year
46.2%
fiscal 2024, per Item 20
Cost to open
$173K–$227K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
5.9%
17 loans resolved — directional only
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2021–2024
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2024, 49 of 106 franchised outlets left the system — a 46.2% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 0 | 4 | 113 | 106 |
| Opened | 1 | 109 | 45 | 21 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 49 | 45 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Outlets at end | 1 | 113 | 106 | 78 |
| Net change | +1 | +109 | -7 | -28 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 60 SBA-backed loans to BLINGLE! franchisees since 2022. Only 17 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 1 of them charged off.
—
17 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$291,940
what recent franchisees borrowed
28 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO BLINGLE! BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
A typical BLINGLE! buyer since 2020 borrowed $292K through SBA — about $44K a year in debt service. Against the brand's own disclosed median unit revenue of $364K, that is 12.2% of every dollar the store takes in — before rent, payroll, food, or royalty.
Who finances it
the Huntington National Bank
85.0% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 10.1% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
11.5%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 60 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to BLINGLE! franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $60K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $173K–$227K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$173K–$227K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$60K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$50K
5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$500K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for BLINGLE! with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks riskier than 77% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
77 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
16.7%
Observed SBA charge-off
5.9%
Top drivers: Item 20 exit rate (raises) · Single-lender dependence (lowers) · Net unit growth (raises) · Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for BLINGLE!. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing BLINGLE!'s numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →BLINGLE! franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of BLINGLE! franchises closed last year?
In BLINGLE!'s latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2024), 49 of 106 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 46.2%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a BLINGLE! franchise cost?
Per BLINGLE!'s 2025 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $60K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $173K–$227K (Item 7).
What royalty does BLINGLE! charge?
BLINGLE! charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2025 FDD.
Does BLINGLE! disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — BLINGLE! makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2025 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $364K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.