Primrose Schools Franchise

Primrose Schools, a Primrose School Franchising franchise, has been franchising since 1988 - 6 years after the concept was founded in 1982 , currently with 500 total locations in the education sector, headquartered in GA. The 2024 FDD lists a total initial investment between $700K and $1.7M, with the 143% low-to-high spread driven mainly by site size, market, and how extensive the buildout runs. That total bundles the franchise fee of $80K together with equipment, leasehold buildout, and the working capital needed to get through ramp-up.

The brand charges 7.0% of gross sales in ongoing royalties, plus a 2.0% national ad-fund contribution on top -- 9.0% combined out of every sales dollar. Critically, Primrose Schools does disclose financial performance data in Item 19, a voluntary disclosure that only about a third of U.S. franchisors make. The reported average gross revenue per location is $2.5M; at that revenue level the typical unit hands back roughly $175K a year in royalty alone. Revenue is not profit, actual franchisee take-home depends on rent, labor, cost of goods, and local demand.

Primrose Schools's network is expanding: unit count grew at a 4.0% net rate over the past year (30 openings, 10 closures). Growing networks tend to signal healthy unit economics for prospective operators, though it is worth distinguishing organic demand from an aggressive franchise-sales push.