Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S3037 since 2018
Row House
Other · independent · est. —
Row House is a boutique fitness franchise offering group indoor rowing classes designed as low-impact, full-body workouts. A franchisee operates a studio outfitted with rowing machines, employing coaches and selling class packages and memberships to fitness consumers.
Row House net unit count grew +2600.0% from 2017–2019 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
Proven & strong
Distress
Enough units and history to judge, and the record is good: growing or stable units with clean exits by the standards of its disclosed record. The standout in the record: the system is growing.
Exit rate · latest year
Not disclosed
Cost to open
$277K–$500K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
15.2%
vs 14.8% avg across rated brands
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
2017–2019
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2019, 0 of 0 franchised outlets left the system. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Opened | 0 | 0 | 54 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 2 | 3 | 54 |
| Net change | 0 | +1 | +51 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 55 SBA-backed loans to Row House franchisees since 2018. Of the 33 that have resolved, 15.2% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.
15.2%
5 of 33 resolved defaulted
54.7%
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
8.3%
default rate × loss severity
$343,668
what recent franchisees borrowed
66 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
7 vs 16
distinct banks — pulling back
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 ROW HOUSE BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
Stearns Bank National Association
14.5% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 11.8% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
74.5%
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 55 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Row House 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 $277K–$500K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$277K–$500K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$60K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
7%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$70K
7% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$700K
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 Row House with an independent CPADistress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for Row House. 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 Row House's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Row House franchise questions, answered from the filings
How much does a Row House franchise cost?
Per Row House's 2020 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $60K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $277K–$500K (Item 7).
What royalty does Row House charge?
Row House charges an ongoing royalty of 7.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2020 FDD.
Does Row House disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Row House makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2020 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.
How often do SBA loans for Row House franchises default?
Across 55 SBA-backed loans to Row House franchisees since 2018, 5 of the 33 that have resolved were charged off — a 15.2% default rate, versus about 14.8% across all rated franchise brands. This is the lender's-eye view of franchisee failure, drawn from public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data and independent of the franchisor's own disclosures.