SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA · FY1991–PRESENT · ARKANSAS
Mail Boxes Etc. Usa franchise in Arkansas: what the public record shows
Franchisees of Mail Boxes Etc. Usa in Arkansas have taken 5 SBA loans since 1991 (average $151,200)— too few resolved loans in-state to publish a local failure rate (we require a resolved cohort, never extrapolate), so the brand's national rate of 12.0% is the better guide.
Loans in AR
5
Resolved
5
Local charge-off
thin
National charge-off
12.0%
Source: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA files (data.sba.gov), borrower state = AR. 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 of 30 loans.
Businesses in this industry
248
statewide, all operators
Per 100k residents
8
national 8.1
Versus the country
-1%
thinner
Every business in Mail Boxes Etc. Usa's industry operating in Arkansas — 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
$923
Arkansas, BLS QCEW 2025
National average
$1,212
same industry, all states
Versus the country
-24%
cheaper to staff
What Mail Boxes Etc. Usa's industry actually pays workers in Arkansas, 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.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Mail Boxes Etc. Usa's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.