SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA · FY1991–PRESENT · ILLINOIS
Fantastic Sams franchise in Illinois: what the public record shows
Franchisees of Fantastic Sams in Illinois have taken 26 SBA loans since 1991 (average $85,134), and of the 23 loans whose story has ended, 30.4% were charged off — versus 22.1% for Fantastic Sams nationally and 14.8% across all rateable franchise brands.
Loans in IL
26
Resolved
23
Local charge-off
30.4%
National charge-off
22.1%
Source: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA files (data.sba.gov), borrower state = IL. Charge-off rate = charged-off ÷ (charged-off + paid-in-full); open loans excluded. A local rate is published only when the resolved cohort clears our floor.
Businesses in this industry
3,593
statewide, all operators
Per 100k residents
28.3
national 26.6
Versus the country
+6%
denser
Every business in Fantastic Sams's industry operating in Illinois — franchised and independent — from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (2023), against 2024 population estimates. Counter-intuitively, density is not a warning: across 198 brand-state cells in our loan data, the densest quartile charges off at 5.6% versus 18.1% in the thinnest. A crowded market is usually proven demand; an empty one is often empty for a reason.
Avg weekly wage, this industry
$699
Illinois, BLS QCEW 2025
National average
$698
same industry, all states
Versus the country
+0%
costlier to staff
What Fantastic Sams's industry actually pays workers in Illinois, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2025), employment-weighted across counties. This is a real cost signal independent of the FDD — a market can look demand-rich above and still carry a margin headwind here if local wages run hot for the sector.
| System | Loans in IL | Local charge-off | Units in IL |
|---|---|---|---|
| GREAT CLIPS | 25 | 0.0% | — |
| SUPERCUTS | 14 | 0.0% | 28 |
| European Wax Centers-Galleria | 13 | 0.0% | — |
| Executive Tans | 12 | 80.0% | — |
| Amazing Lash Studio | 8 | thin | 7 |
| WAXING THE CITY | 7 | thin | — |
| Hand and Stone | 6 | thin | — |
| THE NOW | 6 | thin | — |
| Planet Beach | 5 | thin | — |
Same sector, same state, same public records — how Fantastic Sams compares to the systems a buyer in Illinois would actually be choosing between. Local rates under 10 resolved loans are marked thin, not hidden.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Fantastic Sams's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.