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
Too new to judge
Distress
This system grew to 54 franchised units from a base of 0 — the record looks clean because very few units have been exposed for very long, not because many have survived. Median SBA time-to-default is about 61 months; this system has not lived through that window at scale. Judge the disclosures, not a verdict.
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 570 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
Looks Like Row House – West End Closing
news:PoPville · 3mo ago
BIZNOTE FOLLOWUP: Here’s what’s (likely) moving in after The Row House closes in The Junction
news:West Seattle Blog... · 14mo ago
Row House closures confuse customers without memberships
news:CBS News · 33mo ago
8 questions to ask a Row House franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These are the questions built from what Row House has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
Of 33 SBA loans to Row House franchisees that have finished, 15.2% were charged off — the borrower didn't repay. Did you finance with an SBA loan, and how close did your first two years come to trouble?
This is the lender's view of failure, from public federal records, and it is independent of anything the franchisor discloses.
SBA 7(a)/504 loan record, FY1991–present
- 02
Item 7 says the low end to open is $277K, but the average recent SBA loan to a Row House franchisee was $344K. What did you actually spend to open, all in?
Lenders size loans to real project costs. A large gap between the disclosed floor and what banks actually fund is the most common way buyers get underfunded.
FDD Item 7 vs SBA approvals FY2020+
- 03
You pay 7.0% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 04
Row House makes an earnings claim in Item 19. Does your unit look like that number — and do you know which units they included to build it?
Item 19 is legal to build from a flattering subset. Ask whether they excluded new units, closed units, or company stores.
FDD Item 19 · 2020
- 05
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 06
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 07
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 08
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if Row House’s numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Row House's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
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.