Chem-Dry

The initial franchise fee is $36,000 for a Standard Territory (100,000–150,000 households) or $18,000 for a Small Territory (~75,000 households). That fee doesn't include the $69,495 mandatory Initial Package Fee — equipment, supplies, inventory, digital marketing, and a convention allowance — paid upfront regardless of territory size. So your true entry cost before any other expense is $105,495 for a Standard Territory.

Total investment range is $117,645 to $240,995 for a Standard Territory, with the high end driven primarily by vehicle cost ($0 to $75,000 depending on whether you have a compliant van already). The royalty is a sliding scale of 4% to 7% of Gross Sales plus a Brand Marketing Fee of up to 3% — a potential combined 10% fee burden at the high end. Monthly Technology Fee adds $450. Multi-territory buyers get a $5,400 discount per additional Standard Territory purchased simultaneously.

This is the most important caveat about Chem-Dry's Item 19: it is a projection, not actual franchisee revenue data. The FDD explicitly states it is based on 'historical information we have analyzed from existing franchisees' — but what's disclosed is a modeled estimate: 1 van, Standard Territory, 3 jobs/day × 4 days/week × 52 weeks × $350 average per job = $218,400 projected annual revenue.

There are no median figures, no revenue percentiles, no 'X% of franchisees exceeded this amount' disclosures. You cannot tell from this FDD what the bottom-quartile or top-quartile operator actually earns. Chem-Dry notes its existing franchisees average over 20 years in operation — but those long-tenured franchisees are the ones staying. The 593 who exited in the past three years are not represented in the projection. Before investing, ask for actual P&L data from franchisees in markets comparable to yours.

The unit data tells a consistent story across three years: the system is contracting at roughly 150–185 locations per year. This is not a temporary dip — it's a three-year trend accelerating from -255 units in 2022 to -153 in 2023 to -185 in 2024. Total US locations dropped from 1,692 to 1,099 between start-of-2022 and end-of-2024.

Chem-Dry was founded in 1977 and pioneered carbonated cleaning chemistry with a legitimate point of differentiation from steam cleaning. The brand is recognizable and the underlying service model works — residential carpet cleaning is a recurring-need category. The contraction appears driven by structural economics: solo-operator franchise models in service businesses face margin pressure from independent competitors and gig-platform cleaners who don't carry royalty burdens. The franchisor is owned by BELFOR Franchise Group (a large restoration conglomerate), providing operational infrastructure — but the unit trend suggests the franchise model hasn't adjusted to competitive pressure in the market.

Three specific risks stand out beyond the declining unit count. First, the $69,495 mandatory Initial Package Fee is non-negotiable and paid upfront — it locks in a significant sunk cost before you've served your first customer. Second, the combined fee burden (up to 7% royalty + up to 3% brand marketing + $450/month tech fee) can approach 12–13% of revenue in early months when you're still building volume. At the projected $218,400 annual revenue, that's approximately $26,000–$28,000 in fees annually.

Third — and most importantly — the system-wide decline creates a compounding problem for individual operators: as more territories go dark, national marketing effectiveness per remaining territory dilutes, resale value for your territory drops, and the referral network shrinks. If the contraction continues at the 2024 pace, the system could fall below 1,000 units by end of 2025. Ask the franchisor directly: what is the stabilization plan, and at what unit count does the brand marketing fund become insufficient to support individual territory lead generation?