Massage Envy franchise
The franchisee operates a membership-based spa in leased retail space that sells therapeutic massage, proprietary stretch, hot stone therapy and facial/skin care services, plus related retail products, using licensed massage therapists and estheticians.
Manager-run permitted Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy)
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-29
- Item
- Item 15
- Page
- PDF p. 59
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 641588
the Managing Owner need not exert full-time efforts in the day-to-day operations of your Business
One owner must be designated "Managing Owner," must hold at least a 20% ownership interest, must complete initial training and must be the primary manager of the business. A separate general manager ("Business Manager") must also be designated and must work full time on the business; the Business Manager need not hold equity, and the Managing Owner may but need not fill that role. If the Managing Owner does not serve as Business Manager, the Managing Owner is not required to work full time in day-to-day operations but must supervise the Business Manager. Both the Managing Owner and the Business Manager are barred from other activities requiring significant management responsibility or time.
What stands out
- Total initial investment of $695,870 to $1,046,506 per Item 7, with a standard $45,000 initial franchise fee and leasehold improvements of $405,000 to $551,000 as the dominant cost.
- Ongoing fees: 6% royalty on Gross Sales, 2% National Advertising Fund, about $705 per month in P4 technology fees plus a $390 per month centralized tech support fee; an optional 2% Supplemental Marketing Fund also exists.
- Item 19 covers 989 of 993 franchised outlets for FY2025: average gross sales $1,210,966, median $1,136,666, range $145,352 to $3,300,481 — gross sales only, with no cost or profit data disclosed.
7 more observations
- Units matching the currently recommended format averaged $1,166,456 and the newest cohort (open 2 to under 5 years, 20 units) averaged $715,147, both below the headline average.
- The system shrank from 1,083 franchised outlets at the start of 2023 to 993 at the end of 2025, a net loss of 90, with only 14 openings across the three years and 3 projected for next year.
- Transfers were frequent: 20 in 2023, 88 in 2024 and 61 in 2025, against a base of roughly 1,000 outlets.
- The franchisee does not receive an exclusive territory, and must generate at least $500,000 in Gross Sales in any twelve-month period or face termination or a mandated recovery plan.
- Item 3 discloses an active group of customer lawsuits alleging therapist sexual misconduct at franchised locations, multiple consumer class actions over membership terms, a $3,950,000 settlement of franchisee arbitrations involving more than fifty franchisees, and seven arbitrations the franchisor filed against franchisees in the last fiscal year.
- Roughly 90% to 95% of purchases to open, and 40% to 60% of ongoing purchases, must come from approved or designated suppliers; the franchisor reported $13.5 million of technology and support fee revenue (14.1% of its total revenue), $779,396 from suppliers and $5,431,094 in vendor referral fees in FY2025.
- All owners and their spouses must personally guarantee the franchise agreement, and disputes must be mediated and arbitrated in Maricopa County, Arizona under Arizona law.
Things to verify
- Ask why the system has lost 90 franchised outlets in three years and what happened to the units recorded as ceasing operations for other reasons.
- Ask what a new unit built to the currently recommended 2,300 to 2,800 square foot format actually generates, since Item 19's Network averages 3,252 square feet and the recent-vintage cohorts average well below the headline.
- Item 19 discloses no costs. Ask existing franchisees for a full profit and loss statement, particularly labor cost for licensed therapists and esthetician staffing, occupancy cost, and the true cost of the technology stack.
7 more questions
- Confirm the standard initial franchise fee that applies to you: the $695,870 Item 7 low end assumes the $28,000 veteran second-unit fee, not the $45,000 standard fee.
- Item 7 assumes only three months of additional funds and states explicitly that this does not identify a break-even point. Verify how long the ramp actually takes for a new membership base.
- Understand what the $500,000 minimum Gross Sales requirement means in practice, how often it is enforced, and what an approved business recovery plan involves.
- Ask about the frequency and cost of mandatory Refresh remodels, especially if buying an existing location or renewing.
- Review the Regional Developer arrangement for your market, including who provides your onsite training and support and what share of your fees they receive, and check Exhibit G for any Regional Developer litigation or bankruptcy.
- Review insurance requirements and claims history around the sexual misconduct allegations described in Item 3, including the temporarily reduced coverage minimums and the required incident reporting service.
- Because the territory is non-exclusive, confirm how close another Massage Envy Business or a Captive Venue location could be placed, and what happens to your right of first refusal if you decline an additional unit.
Category cost placeholders, not a forecast. This snapshot uses the default inputs; the calculator below updates when you edit them.
Evidence confidence: High. This describes source support, not investment quality. AI-extracted and machine-verified where stated; no human line-by-line review. Source and review record.
Read the full research overview
A Massage Envy franchisee runs a membership-based spa in leased retail space, selling therapeutic massage, stretch, hot stone therapy and facial and skin care services delivered by licensed therapists and estheticians. The franchisor, ME SPE Franchising, LLC of Scottsdale, Arizona, is controlled through private equity funds managed by Roark Capital Management. Item 7 estimates the total initial investment for a new build at $695,870 to $1,046,506, assuming leased premises of 2,300 to 2,800 square feet and only three months of additional funds; the single largest line is leasehold improvements at $405,000 to $551,000. The standard initial franchise fee is $45,000, reduced to $35,000 for a second or later unit and to $36,000 or $28,000 under the VetFran program. Ongoing fees are 6% of Gross Sales in royalty, 2% to the National Advertising Fund, roughly $705 per month in P4 technology fees plus a $390 monthly centralized tech support fee. No minimum liquidity or net worth requirement is disclosed in the reviewed source.
Item 19 is unusually broad: it reports fiscal 2025 gross sales for 989 of the 993 franchised outlets open at year end, with no company-owned units in the system. Average gross sales were $1,210,966 and the median $1,136,666, but individual units ranged from $145,352 to $3,300,481. The picture is less flattering once the cuts are read. The 189 units matching the store format the franchisor now recommends to new buyers averaged $1,166,456, and averages fall steadily with newer vintages — units open two to under five years averaged $715,147. Item 19 contains no cost, expense, margin or profit data at all, so it says nothing about what an owner would earn, and the franchisor states the franchisee-submitted figures are unaudited and unverified.
Item 20 shows a shrinking system. Franchised outlets fell from 1,083 at the start of 2023 to 1,053, then 1,009, then 993 at the end of 2025 — a net loss of 90 units over three years against just 14 openings. Most exits are classified as ceased operations for other reasons rather than terminations. Transfers between franchisees were heavy at 20, 88 and 61 across the three years. Only 3 new franchised openings are projected for the next fiscal year, with 7 agreements signed but not yet open.
On the legal and contractual side, Item 3 runs to several pages and includes an ongoing group of customer lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by therapists at franchised locations, a series of consumer class actions over membership terms that settled for sums including $5.4 million and $11 million in vouchers, and an arbitration brought by one franchisee that grew to include over fifty franchisees and settled for $3,950,000. The franchisor brought seven arbitrations against its own franchisees in the last fiscal year. The territory is expressly non-exclusive, the franchisee must hit $500,000 in gross sales in any twelve-month period or risk termination, spouses must guarantee the obligations, and disputes go to mediation and arbitration in Maricopa County, Arizona.
View ratings and their supporting evidence
Transparent ratings
How these are computedEach dimension is scored 1–5 from published formulas. Missing data yields “Not enough evidence to rate”, never a low score. There is no composite score by design.
How the system has performed, computed from the disclosed Items 7, 19 and 20. Figures a documented material source inconsistency puts in doubt are excluded, and the dimension shows “Not rated”.
Inputs
- Franchised outlets 1083 → 993 (Item 20, Table 3)
- Thresholds: ≥15% → 5; 5–15% → 4; 0–5% → 3; −5–0% → 2; below −5% → 1
Inputs
- Attrition = (terminations + non-renewals + reacquisitions + ceased-other) ÷ start-of-year franchised units, averaged over 3 fiscal years
- Thresholds: <2% → 5; 2–4% → 4; 4–6% → 3; 6–10% → 2; >10% → 1
Inputs
- AUV $1,210,966 (disclosed) ÷ midpoint investment $871,188 = 1.39×
- Thresholds: ≥2.0 → 5; 1.5–2.0 → 4; 1.0–1.5 → 3; 0.7–1.0 → 2; <0.7 → 1
How much this brand’s FDD discloses, and how well-supported our data on it is. This measures transparency, not business performance — a strong business that discloses little scores low here and stays unrated above.
Inputs
- Item 19 present (+1)
- Average plus median or a distribution (+1)
- Population 100% of franchised units, clearly described (+1)
- Multi-year or cohort data (+1)
- Franchisor Track Record
- Franchising 23 years (since 2003) · 993 outlets · Item 3: 22 matter(s) disclosed · Item 4: none disclosed
- Multi-Unit Scalability
- There is no separate area development or multi-unit agreement offered in this document. Item 5 reduces the initial franchise fee to $35,000 for a second or s… · Manager-run permitted
- Operational Intensity
- Manager-run permitted
Initial investment
FDD Items 5 and 7Format shown: Standard new total body care Massage Envy Business in leased high-end retail shopping center space of roughly 2,300 to 2,800 square feet
$695,870–$1,046,506 total initial investment. Excludes real estate purchase. Includes 3 months of additional funds.
View full investment breakdown — Items 5 & 7
| Initial franchise fee (the named Item 5 fee only) | $45,000 Disclosed
Standard fee for a first franchise. Reduced fees for a second/subsequent franchise ($35,000) and VetFran veteran discounts ($36,000 first franchise / $28,000 second-plus) are discounts, not the standard low end. |
|---|---|
| Total initial investment — low | $695,870 Disclosed
Item 7 total estimated initial investment, low end. This low end embeds the $28,000 discounted veteran second-unit franchise fee; a first-time non-veteran franchisee paying the standard $45,000 fee would start from $712,870 on the same assumptions. |
| Total initial investment — high | $1,046,506 Disclosed
Item 7 total estimated initial investment, high end. |
| Midpoint of range | $871,188 Derived
|
| Real estate purchase included? | No — assumes a leased site |
| Additional funds assumed | 3 months |
| Required liquid capital | Not disclosed in the reviewed source Not disclosedNot disclosed in the reviewed source. We did not find this value in 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy); we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures. The reviewed FDD cover pages, Item 1, Item 5, Item 7, Item 11 and Item 15 state no minimum liquid capital requirement. |
| Required net worth | Not disclosed in the reviewed source Not disclosedNot disclosed in the reviewed source. We did not find this value in 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy); we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures. No minimum franchisee net worth requirement is stated in the reviewed items. Item 17 requires a successor applicant to meet the franchisor's standards for financial capacity, but no dollar threshold is given. |
The estimates assume leased premises in a high-end retail shopping center of 2,300 to 2,800 square feet with at least four dual-purpose massage/skin care rooms; no real estate purchase is contemplated. The franchisor states it compiled the estimates from franchisees that opened in the last 36 months. Only three months of additional funds are assumed, and the FDD states this period is not intended to identify a break-even point. The line items sum exactly to the disclosed totals of $695,870 and $1,046,506. Except as described in Item 10, the franchisor offers no direct or indirect financing.
Item 7 line items (13)
| Expenditure | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee — Range spans the standard $45,000 first-unit fee and the discounted multi-unit and VetFran fees. | $28,000 | $45,000 |
| Initial Opening Package — Purchased from the designated third-party distribution vendor and designated equipment vendors; covers initial supplies, inventory, massage tables and room equipment. | $32,100 | $74,600 |
| Computer System — Low end assumes 5 computers, high end 7; includes network, POS, telecom, surveillance and security system. | $57,600 | $82,000 |
| Security Deposits — Landlord and utility deposits. | $5,000 | $31,156 |
| Three Months' Lease Rent — Excludes CAM, taxes and insurance; assumes leased premises of 2,300 to 2,800 square feet. | $11,520 | $36,000 |
| Leasehold Improvements — Excludes any landlord construction allowance. Includes $45,000 to $89,000 of build-out materials that must be bought from required suppliers. | $405,000 | $551,000 |
| Exterior Signage — Range covers one to three signs. | $5,800 | $17,000 |
| Business Licenses and Permits | $350 | $19,000 |
| Professional Fees — Includes fees for the franchisor's required architect. | $15,000 | $30,000 |
| Grand Opening Advertising Program | $15,000 | $15,000 |
| Insurance — Represents about 25% of the estimated annual premium, typically paid before opening. | $2,500 | $8,750 |
| Initial Training — Travel and living expenses only; excludes wages during training. | $1,000 | $7,000 |
| Additional Funds – 3 months — Start-up expenses for the first three months, including payroll but excluding any owner draw. Includes P4 Technology Fees of about $705 per month. | $117,000 | $130,000 |
Source for every row: the Item 7 estimated-initial-investment table of 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy) (table begins PDF p. 32) — rows inherit the table's citation rather than carrying fifteen identical ones.
Ongoing fees
FDD Item 6Royalty
6% of gross sales Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy)
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-29
- Item
- Item 6
- Page
- PDF p. 27
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 641588
Charged weekly on the prior week's Gross Sales and collected by ACH debit. Gross Sales include service fees, membership fees, gift card sales and product sales, excluding sales tax, customer refunds/credits and therapist and esthetician tips.
Brand advertising fund
2% of gross sales Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy)
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-29
- Item
- Item 6
- Page
- PDF p. 27
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 641588
National Advertising Fund contribution, payable weekly. A separate Supplemental Marketing Fund contribution of 2% of Gross Sales is described as optional.
Local marketing
4% of gross sales Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy)
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-29
- Item
- Item 6
- Page
- PDF p. 46
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 641588
No required minimum local advertising spend appears in Item 6 or Item 11. Item 6 notes that if the National Advertising Fund or Supplemental Marketing Fund were terminated, the franchisee would have to spend the equivalent amounts on local advertising or contribute them to a regional cooperative.
Core requirements shown separately; caps, credits and conditions may overlap. Check the full schedule for technology, cooperative, transfer and other charges.
View all recurring fees and conditions
| Royalty | 6% of gross sales Disclosed
Charged weekly on the prior week's Gross Sales and collected by ACH debit. Gross Sales include service fees, membership fees, gift card sales and product sales, excluding sales tax, customer refunds/credits and therapist and esthetician tips. Charged weekly on the prior week's Gross Sales and collected by ACH debit. Gross Sales include service fees, membership fees, gift card sales and product sales, excluding sales tax, customer refunds/credits and therapist and esthetician tips. |
|---|---|
| Advertising / brand fund | 2% of gross sales Disclosed
National Advertising Fund contribution, payable weekly. A separate Supplemental Marketing Fund contribution of 2% of Gross Sales is described as optional. National Advertising Fund contribution, payable weekly. A separate Supplemental Marketing Fund contribution of 2% of Gross Sales is described as optional. |
| Required local marketing | 4% of gross sales Disclosed
No required minimum local advertising spend appears in Item 6 or Item 11. Item 6 notes that if the National Advertising Fund or Supplemental Marketing Fund were terminated, the franchisee would have to spend the equivalent amounts on local advertising or contribute them to a regional cooperative. No required minimum local advertising spend appears in Item 6 or Item 11. Item 6 notes that if the National Advertising Fund or Supplemental Marketing Fund were terminated, the franchisee would have to spend the equivalent amounts on local advertising or contribute them to a regional cooperative. |
| Technology / software | $705/month Disclosed
P4 Technology Fees of approximately $705 per month for a location with cable-enabled internet, made up of a $215 Meevo POS software subscription, $367 internet/managed network/enhanced security, and $122.50 app development and maintenance. Locations without cable-enabled internet pay more. A separate Centralized Tech Solutions and Support Fee of $390 per month is charged in addition. P4 Technology Fees of approximately $705 per month for a location with cable-enabled internet, made up of a $215 Meevo POS software subscription, $367 internet/managed network/enhanced security, and $122.50 app development and maintenance. Locations without cable-enabled internet pay more. A separate Centralized Tech Solutions and Support Fee of $390 per month is charged in addition. |
| Advertising cooperative | Not disclosed in the reviewed source Not disclosedNot disclosed in the reviewed source. We did not find this value in 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy); we do not fill gaps with estimates or third-party figures. No rate or amount is disclosed. Regional Advertising Cooperative contributions are set by cooperative members, not by a fixed rate. Franchisees are not required to contribute while the National Advertising Fund and Supplemental Marketing Fund remain in effect and the franchisee complies with Section 9 of the Franchise Agreement. A 1% accounting fee on total monthly contributions applies if the cooperative asks the franchisor to provide accounting services. |
| Transfer fee | $30,000 one-time Derived
Item 6 states the transfer fee as a formula, not a dollar amount: two-thirds of the then-current initial franchise fee, payable before the transfer is completed. Formula: 2/3 × $45,000 current standard initial franchise fee (Item 5) = $30,000. The amount will change if the initial franchise fee changes before the transfer. A reduced fee of $500 to $2,500 applies to an assignment to a wholly owned entity or a reallocation of ownership among existing owners that is not a controlling interest. |
| Renewal fee | $30,000 one-time Derived
Item 6 states the Successor Franchise Fee as two-thirds of the then-current initial franchise fee, due before the successor franchise agreement is signed. Formula: 2/3 × $45,000 current standard initial franchise fee (Item 5) = $30,000. The amount will change if the initial franchise fee changes before renewal. |
| Royalty + ad fund (% of sales) | 8% Derived
|
Fee schedule (27 fees; 14 verified against the source, 13 single-pass)
Every recurring, conditional and one-time fee found in this FDD's Item 6 table (plus mandatory recurring costs disclosed in Items 7/11), each cited to its page and carrying its verification status: verified means two independent readings agreed or a tie-break re-inspection of the page decided it; single-pass means one reading captured it and it has not been independently confirmed (permitted only for fees that cannot move modeled economics — see the materiality rule). Amounts marked “not stated” are charged at then-current rates the FDD does not quantify and are never modeled as $0.
| Fee | Amount | Frequency | Mandatory | Verification | Cite | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royalty | 6% of gross sales | weekly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 27 | Charged weekly by ACH debit on prior week's Gross Sales. |
| National Advertising Fund | 2% of gross sales | weekly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 27 | Item 11 describes 2% as a cap ('will not exceed 2%'); currently charged at 2%. |
| Supplemental Marketing Fund | 2% of gross sales | weekly | No | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 27 | Optional; if a franchisee does not elect to contribute, it must instead independently spend 4% of Gross Sales on local advertising/marketing (see local-independent-marketing-spend). Established Jan 1, 2022; replaced a prior National Marketing Cooperative ($1,100-$1,500/location) discontinued Dec 31, 2021. |
| Independent Local Advertising/Marketing Spend (Non SMF Period) | 4% of gross sales | annual | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 11, p. 46 | Applies only during a "Non SMF Period" - any period the franchisee is not contributing 2% of Gross Sales to the Supplemental Marketing Fund. Mutually exclusive with the 2% SMF contribution; either way the amount is in addition to the mandatory 2% National Advertising Fund contribution. Not in the Item 6 table; an Item 11 obligation. Introduced at PDF p.44 ("required to either (i) contribute 2% ... to the Supplemental Marketing Fund, or (ii) through your own efforts, spend 4% of your annual Gross Sales") and stated in full at PDF p.46. Franchisor may audit compliance and all franchisee-created advertising needs prior approval. |
| Regional Advertising Cooperative | Not stated | varies | No | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 27 | Franchisees are not required to contribute while National Advertising Fund and Supplemental Marketing Fund remain in effect and franchisee complies with Section 9 of the FA. |
| Regional Advertising Cooperative Accounting Fee | 1% of other | monthly | No | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 27 | Charged only if the cooperative requests, and the franchisor agrees to provide, accounting services. |
| P4 Technology Fees | $705 | monthly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 27 | ~$705/month assumes cable-enabled internet; higher if not available. Comprises Meevo POS $215 + Internet/Managed Network/Security $367 + App Development $122.50 = $704.50. Due 24th of month following install/receipt of each P4 component. |
| Centralized Tech Solutions & Support Fee | $390 | monthly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 27 | Separate from, and in addition to, the P4 Technology Fees above; confirmed as the '$390 support fee' referenced in Item 11 alongside the '$215 subscription fee' (part of P4 Technology Fees). |
| Rapid Response/D3 | $90 | monthly | Yes | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 29 | Franchisees are required to retain Redirect, LLC and use its Rapid Response/D3 incident-reporting services. |
| NASF Employment Verification System | $150 | annual | No | verified (2-pass) | Item 6, p. 30 | Currently paid by the franchisor through October 2026; franchisees may be required to pay thereafter. Not currently a franchisee cost; flagged as a future contingent obligation. |
| Additional Training or Assistance Fee | $250 | per event | No | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 28 | Initial training is at no additional charge. Charged for (i) training newly-hired personnel, (ii) training materials beyond those initially issued, (iii) refresher training courses, (iv) conventions and (v) any additional or special assistance or training you need or request. Due as incurred. Item 6 row confirmed on PDF p.28. Cross-referenced in Item 11 at PDF p.43 (Franchise Agreement Sections 4(A) and 4(B)). Pass B missed this row. |
| Failure to Attend Convention or Program Fee | $400 | per event | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 27 | Charged only if a required attendee fails to attend the annual convention/program. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Opening Audit Fee | $500 | one time | Yes | single-pass | Item 6, p. 27 | Up to $500, charged once pre-opening to audit/certify readiness to open. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] Not a recurring fee; listed for completeness. |
| Refresh CAD Rendering or Site Survey Fee | $550–$1,900 | varies | Conditional | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 28 | Charged as incurred, due upon invoice, in connection with the Refresh Program (see Item 8). The franchisor currently retains up to $50 and pays the remainder to the third-party vendor, and may adjust the portion it retains. Item 6 row confirmed on PDF p.28; the same $550-$1,900 and $3,000 figures reappear in Item 8's Refresh Program discussion at PDF p.35. Pass B missed this row. |
| Refresh Architectural Plans Fee | $3,000 | varies | Conditional | verified (tie-break) | Item 6, p. 28 | Charged as incurred, due upon invoice, under the Refresh Program (see Item 8). The franchisor currently retains up to $200 and pays the remainder to the third-party vendor, and may adjust the portion it retains. Item 6 row confirmed on PDF p.28; corroborated by Item 8 at PDF p.35 ("$3,000 to receive the architectural plans"). Pass B missed this row. |
| Successor Franchise Fee | Not stated | one time | Yes | single-pass | Item 6, p. 27 | Due before execution of a successor franchise agreement (i.e., at renewal, ~every 10 years). [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Transfer Fee | Not stated | one time | Yes | single-pass | Item 6, p. 27 | [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Audit | Not stated | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 28 | Due only if franchisee fails to give timely reports/records or understates Gross Sales by more than 2%. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Interest | 15% of other | annual | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 28 | Applies only to overdue amounts under the Franchise Agreement. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Fines | $500 | per event | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Up to $500/incident for mandatory System Standard non-compliance, repeat default within 6 months, or failure to operate during required hours; deposited into the National Advertising Fund. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Management Fee | 8% of gross sales | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Due only if the franchisor or a Regional Developer manages the business after a material breach. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Costs and Attorneys' Fees | Not stated | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Due only if franchisee does not comply with the Franchise Agreement. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Indemnification | Not stated | varies | Conditional | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Franchisee must indemnify the franchisor and others for damages from franchisee breach or claims relating to Business operation. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] Contingent legal obligation, not a scheduled payment. |
| New Product or Supplier Testing | Not stated | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Covers cost of testing new products or inspecting new suppliers the franchisee proposes. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Insurance (franchisor-obtained) | Not stated | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 29 | Due only if franchisee fails to obtain/maintain required insurance and the franchisor obtains it on franchisee's behalf. [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Late Fee and Dishonored Debits Fee | Tiered (base 15%) | varies | No | single-pass | Item 6, p. 30 | [Listed by one verification pass only (A); not independently confirmed.] |
| Required insurance premiums | $10,000–$35,000derived | annual | Yes | verified (tie-break) | Item 7, p. 34 | Coverage types and amounts are set by Franchise Agreement Section 8 and Item 8, plus any coverage required by law, a lender or the landlord. Paid to third-party insurers, not to the franchisor. Item 7 table row "Insurance11 $2,500 to $8,750" is on PDF p.32; Note 11 supplying the 25% relationship is on PDF p.34. Distinct from the Item 6 insurance-reimbursement-fee, which is the franchisor's charge-back if the franchisee lets coverage lapse and the franchisor buys it - that charge substitutes for this premium rather than adding to it. |
Item 6 also lists an opening audit fee of up to $500, Refresh CAD/site survey fees of $550 to $1,900 and Refresh architectural plan fees of $3,000, interest of the lesser of 15% per year or the legal maximum on overdue amounts, fines of up to $500 per incident deposited into the National Advertising Fund, a $100 dishonored debit fee, and audit cost reimbursement if reports are late or Gross Sales are understated by more than 2%. All fees are collected by ACH debit and are non-refundable.
Financial performance (Item 19)
What the franchisor actually disclosedWho is represented: The "Network": 989 franchised Massage Envy Businesses that began operating before the start of fiscal 2025 and reported sales in all 52 weeks of fiscal 2025, including businesses that closed temporarily during the year (for weather, relocation or premises maintenance) and reopened within the year. Excluded are two businesses that had their initial opening during fiscal 2025, two that were temporarily closed on December 31, 2024 and reopened during fiscal 2025, and any business not actively operating at the end of fiscal 2025. Total open outlets at year end were 993, so the Network covers all but four of them. There were no company-owned outlets, so every unit represented is franchised. A subset of 189 Network businesses matching the currently recommended 2,300 to 2,800 square foot format is reported separately in Table 2.
Qualifications: The figures are gross sales only. Item 19 states expressly that they do not reflect cost of sales, operating expenses or any other costs that would have to be deducted to reach net income, and no profit, margin or EBITDA figure is disclosed anywhere in the Item. The data was submitted by franchisees and the franchisor states it has neither audited nor independently verified it, and no accountant has reviewed it. The spread is very wide: individual units ranged from $145,352 to $3,300,481 in the same year. Only 189 of the 989 units match the store format the franchisor currently recommends to new buyers, and that subset averaged $1,166,456, below the full-Network average; the Network's average footprint of 3,252 square feet is larger than the 2,300 to 2,800 square feet Item 7 assumes for a new build. Averages rise steadily with unit age, and the newest cohort in the data (open 2 to under 5 years, 20 units) averaged $715,147, roughly 59% of the Network average. Four operating outlets were excluded from the Network, and units that closed permanently during 2025 are not represented.
View full Item 19 disclosure and tables
Massage Envy makes a financial performance representation covering essentially the whole system: 989 of the 993 franchised outlets open at the end of fiscal 2025. It reports one year of gross sales — fiscal 2025 — broken out by quartile, by store format, by how long the unit has been open, and by revenue source. Because the system has no company-owned outlets, every figure reflects franchised operations. What the Item does not contain is any cost, expense, margin or profit information, so nothing in it supports an estimate of what an owner would earn. Prospective buyers should also note that the recent-vintage cohorts and the units matching the currently recommended format both average below the headline figure, and that membership dues and packages supply roughly three-quarters of a typical unit's revenue.
| Metric | Subset | Value | Units | Period | Cite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross sales — all franchised units in the FY2025 Network The 43.4% attainment figure on the Total row counts businesses meeting or exceeding their own quartile average, not the system average. | Network (all franchised units) Average | $1,210,966 | 989 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.67 |
| Gross sales — median across the FY2025 Network | Network (all franchised units) Median | $1,136,666 | 989 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.67 |
| Gross sales — lowest single unit in the Network | Network (all franchised units) Low | $145,352 | 989 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.67 |
| Gross sales — highest single unit in the Network | Network (all franchised units) High | $3,300,481 | 989 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.67 |
| Gross sales — top quartile average 37.2% of units met or exceeded Quartile range $1,484,743 to $3,300,481; quartile median $1,783,790. 92 of 247 units met or exceeded the quartile average. | Top quartile Quartile avg. | $1,879,331 | 247 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.67 |
| Gross sales — second quartile average 48.6% of units met or exceeded Quartile range $1,136,925 to $1,480,185; quartile median $1,289,491. 120 of 247 units met or exceeded the quartile average. | 2nd quartile Quartile avg. | $1,291,657 | 247 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.67 |
| Gross sales — third quartile average 48.6% of units met or exceeded Quartile range $853,274 to $1,136,666; quartile median $990,647. 120 of 247 units met or exceeded the quartile average. | 3rd quartile Quartile avg. | $996,112 | 247 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.67 |
| Gross sales — bottom quartile average 57.7% of units met or exceeded Quartile range $145,352 to $852,665; quartile median $711,972. 143 of 248 units met or exceeded the quartile average. | Bottom quartile Quartile avg. | $678,916 | 248 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.67 |
| Gross sales — average for units matching the currently recommended store format 189 of the 989 Network businesses match the size and layout the franchisor recommends to new franchisees. Range $145,352 to $2,792,847. | Current Format Businesses (2,300–2,800 sq ft) Average | $1,166,456 | 189 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.67 |
| Gross sales — median for units matching the currently recommended store format | Current Format Businesses (2,300–2,800 sq ft) Median | $1,098,105 | 189 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.67 |
| Gross sales — average for units open 20 or more years 46.8% of units met or exceeded Range $531,521 to $2,810,716; median $1,394,932. | Open 20+ years Average | $1,427,576 | 62 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.68 |
| Gross sales — average for units open 15 to under 20 years 44.4% of units met or exceeded Range $493,175 to $3,188,684; median $1,227,929. This is the largest cohort, half the Network. | Open 15 to <20 years Average | $1,293,484 | 495 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.68 |
| Gross sales — average for units open 10 to under 15 years 40.4% of units met or exceeded Range $204,020 to $3,300,481; median $1,073,655. | Open 10 to <15 years Average | $1,147,447 | 332 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.68 |
| Gross sales — average for units open 5 to under 10 years 41.3% of units met or exceeded Range $145,352 to $2,355,414; median $849,229. | Open 5 to <10 years Average | $920,072 | 80 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.68 |
| Gross sales — average for units open 2 to under 5 years 55% of units met or exceeded Range $187,797 to $1,331,150; median $756,732. This is the newest cohort with any units; no Network business had been open between one and two years. | Open 2 to <5 years Average | $715,147 | 20 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.68 |
| Share of gross sales from packages and membership dues 50.3% of units met or exceeded Individual-unit averages ranged from 55.6% to 90.4%; median 76.7%. | Network (all franchised units) Average | 76.6% | 989 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.68 |
| Share of gross sales from retail product sales 38.9% of units met or exceeded Individual-unit averages ranged from 0.1% to 16.8%; median 2.4%. | Network (all franchised units) Average | 2.8% | 989 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.69 |
| Share of gross sales from gift card sales 44.7% of units met or exceeded Individual-unit averages ranged from 1.2% to 18.1%; median 5.1%. | Network (all franchised units) Average | 5.4% | 989 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.69 |
| Share of gross sales from other revenue sources 50.7% of units met or exceeded Guest service fees and additional services purchased by members. Individual-unit averages ranged from 0.9% to 36.6%; median 15.3%. | Network (all franchised units) Average | 15.2% | 989 | FY2025 (ended Dec 31, 2025) | FDD p.69 |
System health (Item 20)
Outlets, openings, exits and transfers by fiscal year · U.S. onlyView detailed Item 20 tables and source notes
| Fiscal year | Start | Opened | Terminated | Not renewed | Reacquired | Ceased — other | End | Transfers | Company-owned (end) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1,083 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 1,053 | 20 | 0 |
| 2024 | 1,053 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 1,009 | 88 | 0 |
| 2025 | 1,009 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 993 | 61 | 0 |
Disclosed 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy), Item 20, Tables 1–3 (PDF p. 71). The system shrank in all three reported years: franchised outlets fell from 1,083 at the start of 2023 to 993 at the end of 2025, a net loss of 90 units, with no company-owned outlets at any point. Table 3 totals reconcile for each year (start plus openings minus terminations, non-renewals, reacquisitions and other closures equals the year-end count). Closures classified as "ceased operations – other reasons" account for most exits (36, 27 and 10). Openings were minimal — 10, then 1, then 3 — so the pace of decline slowed mainly because closures slowed, not because openings recovered. Transfers of outlets between franchisees were heavy relative to system size: 20 in 2023, 88 in 2024 and 61 in 2025, with California alone accounting for 28 in 2024. The franchisor separately notes that its predecessor terminated 4, 2 and 2 franchise agreements in 2023, 2024 and 2025 because franchisees failed to open their businesses by the required deadlines; those are not counted in Table 3. All tables are broken out by U.S. state only.
Source data notes (4) — inconsistencies found in the FDD itself during verification
Our verification re-reads every table. Where the FDD's own printed tables disagree, we document the discrepancy rather than silently "fixing" it. Classes: B = arithmetic error in the source's derived column; C = the printed tables genuinely disagree; D = a legitimate definitional difference (e.g., transfers netted, explained by a footnote); E = unresolved ambiguity. Figures a material C/E issue puts in doubt are excluded from our derived metrics, scores and rankings.
- [C/minor] Table 3 vs Item 19 2025: Table 3's Totals row reports 3 franchised outlets opened in 2025 (PDF p.80), but Item 19 (PDF p.71 of Item 19 text, PDF p.60 block) states the 989-outlet Network excluded "two Massage Envy Businesses that had their initial opening during Fiscal Year 2025" plus two temporarily closed at 12/31/2024 and reopened in FY2025, reconciling 989 to 993. The two printed disclosures give different FY2025 initial-opening counts (3 vs 2) and the FDD offers no reconciling footnote. — Use Table 3's 3 openings. The figure the site depends on is the year-end TOTAL of 993, which is corroborated three ways - Table 1's franchised and total rows (PDF p.71), Table 3's Totals row (PDF p.80) and Item 1's 986 body care + 7 traditional Businesses as of 12/31/2025 - and Item 19's own arithmetic (993 - 2 - 2 = 989) is internally consistent. The gap is 1 unit on a 1,009-unit start-of-year base (0.10%, well under 0.5%) and does not change the direction of 2025 (net -16 either way). A plausible but unstated explanation is that Item 19's exclusions count only outlets still open at year end, so an outlet that opened and then closed within FY2025 would appear in Table 3's Opened column without appearing in Item 19's exclusion list; since the FDD does not say this, the disagreement stands
- [D/minor] Table 3 2025: The footnote under Table 3 (PDF p.80) discloses that MEF separately terminated 4, 2 and 2 franchise agreements in FY2023/2024/2025 for franchisees that failed to open by their contractual deadlines. These pre-opening terminations sit outside Table 3, whose header note limits the table to "Massage Envy Businesses that opened for business during the relevant time period", so the Terminations column understates total agreement terminations (2025: 4 in-table vs 6 including pre-opening). — Legitimate table-definition difference, expressly explained by the printed footnote. Table 3 counts outlet-level events only; the pre-opening terminations are agreement-level and belong to the Table 5 signed-but-not-open population, so the two sets are disjoint and no double counting or omission occurs in the outlet counts. The Totals row still foots exactly (1009 + 3 - 4 - 5 - 0 - 10 = 993) and matches Table 1, so no derived outlet metric changes. Only an agreement-level termination metric, if the site ever computed one, would need the footnote's numbers added.
- [D/minor] Table 2 2023: Table 2's footnote 3 (PDF p.74) states the transfer counts "only refer to outlets that were transferred after opening," so pre-opening assignments of franchise agreements are excluded from the 20/88/61 totals. — Legitimate definitional scope, disclosed in the footnote, and it matches the transfer metric the site reports (transfers of operating outlets). The state rows sum exactly to the printed totals of 20 (2023), 88 (2024) and 61 (2025), so the totals themselves are sound.
- [E/minor] Table 3 2025: "Ceased Operations - Other Reasons" is the dominant exit channel (36, 27 and 10 units in FY2023/2024/2025, versus terminations of 3/16/4 and non-renewals of 1/2/5), but Item 20 contains no glossary or footnote defining what it covers, so it is unclear whether relocations, voluntary closures, abandonments or expirations are counted there. — Unresolved ambiguity in the source, but it does not put any total in doubt: the column is an input to a Totals row that foots exactly in all three years and whose endpoints (1053, 1009, 993) match Table 1 and, for 2025, Item 1. Attrition and closure counts are therefore reliable in aggregate; only the attribution of closures by cause is opaque, and the site should not break closures down by reason for this brand.
Company-owned outlets (Table 4)
| Year | Start | Opened | Reacquired from franchisee | Closed | Sold to franchisee | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Read: How to read Item 20.
Ownership and operations
Items 11, 12, 15, 17Manager-run permitted Disclosed
- Source
- 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy)
- Document
- FDD 2026, issued 2026-04-29
- Item
- Item 15
- Page
- PDF p. 59
- Obtained
- Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search, file 641588
the Managing Owner need not exert full-time efforts in the day-to-day operations of your Business
One owner must be designated "Managing Owner," must hold at least a 20% ownership interest, must complete initial training and must be the primary manager of the business. A separate general manager ("Business Manager") must also be designated and must work full time on the business; the Business Manager need not hold equity, and the Managing Owner may but need not fill that role. If the Managing Owner does not serve as Business Manager, the Managing Owner is not required to work full time in day-to-day operations but must supervise the Business Manager. Both the Managing Owner and the Business Manager are barred from other activities requiring significant management responsibility or time.
View operating requirements, territory and contract term
| Owner involvement (Item 15) | Manager-run permitted Disclosed
One owner must be designated "Managing Owner," must hold at least a 20% ownership interest, must complete initial training and must be the primary manager of the business. A separate general manager ("Business Manager") must also be designated and must work full time on the business; the Business Manager need not hold equity, and the Managing Owner may but need not fill that role. If the Managing Owner does not serve as Business Manager, the Managing Owner is not required to work full time in day-to-day operations but must supervise the Business Manager. Both the Managing Owner and the Business Manager are barred from other activities requiring significant management responsibility or time. One owner must be designated "Managing Owner," must hold at least a 20% ownership interest, must complete initial training and must be the primary manager of the business. A separate general manager ("Business Manager") must also be designated and must work full time on the business; the Business Manager need not hold equity, and the Managing Owner may but need not fill that role. If the Managing Owner does not serve as Business Manager, the Managing Owner is not required to work full time in day-to-day operations but must supervise the Business Manager. Both the Managing Owner and the Business Manager are barred from other activities requiring significant management responsibility or time. |
|---|---|
| Initial training | For a first-time franchisee the Initial Training Program is roughly five days of new-franchisee training at the Massage Envy Franchise Support Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, at another designated location, or virtually, plus about ten days of onsite training at the franchisee's own business delivered by a Regional Developer or another designee, including hands-on work on the P4 point-of-sale technology and reporting systems, and about two to four hours of product and service training from designated skin care suppliers. An existing franchisee or its affiliate receives a shorter program of about five days of onsite training. The Managing Owner, the Business Manager and up to three additional management staff may attend; the Managing Owner and the initial Business Manager must complete the program before the business opens. There is no separate training fee, but the franchisee pays all travel and living expenses. The franchisor may require up to five days of additional or refresher training a year plus a convention of up to three days. Disclosed
Failure of the Managing Owner to complete initial training satisfactorily is listed in Item 17 as a non-curable default and can lead to termination. |
| Multi-unit / development options | There is no separate area development or multi-unit agreement offered in this document. Item 5 reduces the initial franchise fee to $35,000 for a second or subsequent franchise ($28,000 for a veteran). Item 12 gives an existing franchisee a 30-day right of first refusal on an additional Massage Envy Business the franchisor decides the franchisee's territory can support, subject to seven disqualifying conditions including non-compliance, failure to meet current franchisee standards and insufficient financial resources; apart from that, the franchisee has no rights to acquire additional franchises. The Regional Developer program, under which developers opened units in a defined area and shared in fees, has not been offered since September 2012; 8 Regional Developers operated 10 Regional Developer businesses as of December 31, 2025. Disclosed
Fee amounts are from Item 5 (page 26); the Regional Developer facts are from Item 1 (page 7). |
| Territory (Item 12) | A Territory is assigned about 30 days after opening and is described in the franchise agreement by street landmarks and compass directions or by a mileage radius. It is sized against the franchisor's criteria — currently a minimum of 7,500 qualified households, defined as average annual household income above $75,000 in suburban markets and above $50,000 in independent markets — though the franchisor may grant smaller territories. Within the Territory the franchisor and its affiliates will not establish or license another Massage Envy Business, subject to significant carve-outs. The FDD states plainly that the franchisee does not receive an exclusive territory: the franchisor may sell competing goods and services through alternative channels such as the internet, mail order and catalogs, may operate or license Massage Envy outlets in "Captive Venues" such as hotels, stadiums, campuses, airports and military bases inside the Territory, may convert acquired competing businesses inside the Territory, and may place an additional Massage Envy Business in the Territory if the franchisee declines or is disqualified from its right of first refusal. Territory can also be reduced if grounds for termination arise. The franchisee must honor reciprocity for members of other Massage Envy locations at specified rates. Disclosed
Retention of territorial rights is tied to the minimum sales requirement described under risk.other_flags. |
| Initial term | 10 years Disclosed
Initial term of the Franchise Agreement. The Meevo Subscription Agreement terminates when the Franchise Agreement terminates. |
| Renewal | There is no automatic renewal. A franchisee that has substantially complied with the agreement and meets other conditions may acquire a successor franchise on the franchisor's then-current terms, which the FDD warns may differ materially from the original. Requirements include giving notice, keeping possession of the site, meeting the franchisor's standards for character, skill, aptitude, attitude, English language, business ability and financial capacity, remodeling the site to current standards, participating in the Refresh program, signing a general release and paying a successor fee of two-thirds of the then-current initial franchise fee. Disclosed
The number of successor terms available is not stated in the Item 17 table. |
Risk and legal observations
Items 3, 4, 8, 15, 17 — summarized neutrallyLitigation: 22 matter(s) disclosed Disclosed · Bankruptcy: None disclosed Disclosed
View legal disclosures, restrictions and guarantees
| Litigation (Item 3) | 22 matter(s) disclosed Disclosed Item 3 is long and covers four distinct groups. First, an active aggregate disclosure: the franchisor and its predecessor have been named as defendants in numerous customer lawsuits, filed across various states and counties, alleging that massage therapists at franchised locations engaged in sexual misconduct and that the franchisor was negligent, engaged in unfair or deceptive practices, or is vicariously liable. The franchisor disputes the allegations, states it has settled some of the suits, and says more may be filed. Individual case names and totals for this group are not given, so the count of 22 treats it as a single item. Second, ten named concluded matters, most of them consumer class actions over membership cancellation, termination and fee-increase terms (Hahn, Robinson, Zizian, Pirozzi, McKinney-Drobnis, Grosso) plus a Monterey County, California district attorney investigation into membership charges after a location closed. Disclosed settlement amounts for these include $5,432,913.52 (Hahn, almost entirely attorneys' fees) and $407,000 (Zizian), and $11 million of face-value vouchers issued to class members in McKinney-Drobnis. Third, three named franchisee-initiated matters: an arbitration by a New York franchisee alleging misleading investment disclosures (dismissed in part, then settled confidentially), a Long Beach, California franchisee's territorial and right-of-first-refusal claim settled for $700,000, and an Avondale, Arizona franchisee arbitration over the point-of-sale system and mandatory purchases that was joined by 104 further individual arbitrations from more than fifty other franchisees and settled in March 2022 for $3,950,000, with the franchisor also agreeing to form a franchisee committee before launching new mandatory products or services. Fourth, seven arbitration actions the franchisor itself brought against franchisees in the last fiscal year for wrongful abandonment or failure to pay post-termination obligations. Item 3 also describes four settled regulatory matters involving Roark-affiliated franchisors (Arby's and Dunkin' no-poach settlements, a $650,000 New York data-security consent order against Dunkin' Brands, and a $30,000 Maryland consent order against Jimmy John's) that do not involve Massage Envy. |
|---|---|
| Bankruptcy (Item 4) | None disclosed Disclosed Item 4 discloses no bankruptcy for the franchisor, its parents, predecessors or affiliates. It cross-references Exhibit G for any bankruptcies of Regional Developers; Exhibit G was not part of the item text reviewed here, so any Regional Developer bankruptcies are unverified. |
| Personal guaranty | Required Disclosed
Every owner and that owner's spouse must sign the Guaranty and Assumption of Obligations: each shareholder and spouse for a corporation, each general partner and spouse for a partnership, and each member, manager and spouse for an LLC. A married individual franchisee and their spouse must also sign. The FDD's state-mandated risk factors flag spousal liability explicitly, including for a spouse who owns no part of the business. |
| Non-compete | During the term, neither the franchisee nor any owner nor any immediate family member of an owner may divert business to, hold an ownership interest in, lend money to, or perform services for a Competitive Business anywhere — a Competitive Business being any business deriving more than a nominal amount per year from services Massage Envy Businesses are authorized to offer. After termination, expiration or transfer, the same people may not hold any direct or indirect interest in a Competitive Business operating at the site, within 25 miles of the site, or within 25 miles of any other Massage Envy Business open or under construction on the termination or expiration date. The franchise agreement sets the post-term restricted period at 18 months from the effective date of termination, expiration or transfer, and extends it for anyone who violates it. Disclosed
The Item 17 table itself states the 25-mile radius but no duration; the 18-month Post-Term Restricted Period comes from Section 15.D of the form Franchise Agreement at Exhibit B (Item 23, PDF page 153). The franchisor reserves the right to unilaterally reduce the scope of any restrictive covenant. |
| Transfer restrictions | No transfer may occur without the franchisor's prior written consent. "Transfer" is defined broadly and includes assignment of the franchise agreement, sale of the business's assets, any direct or indirect ownership interest, and any pledge, mortgage, encumbrance or transfer by operation of law. The selling franchisee must be in full compliance, pay all amounts owed to the franchisor and third-party vendors, sign a general release, pay the transfer fee (two-thirds of the then-current initial franchise fee unless the buyer pays it) and subordinate any amounts owed by the buyer. The buyer must meet the franchisor's qualifications, complete training, sign the then-current franchise agreement and guaranty, be in compliance with any other Massage Envy agreements it holds, and bring the business up to current mandatory System Standards, which triggers the Refresh program. The franchisor holds a right of first refusal to buy the business on the offered terms, and separately an option to buy the business at fair market value after termination or expiration. On death or disability, the franchise or ownership interest must be assigned to an approved party within nine months. Disclosed
Item 20 recorded 20, 88 and 61 outlet transfers in 2023, 2024 and 2025, so transfers are common in this system despite these conditions. |
| Termination / non-renewal | The franchisee has no stated right to terminate, and the franchisor cannot terminate without cause. Curable defaults carry short cure periods: 72 hours for violating a law relating to ownership or operation of the business, 10 days for monetary defaults and lapsed insurance, 30 days for other curable defaults, and 90 days to find a new site and secure a lease if possession is lost. Non-curable defaults include material misrepresentation or omission, selling unapproved products or services, failure to complete initial training satisfactorily, abandonment, unapproved transfer, felony conviction, interference with inspections, dishonest or offensive conduct, loss of a license, unauthorized use or disclosure of the manual or confidential information, failure to maintain minimum Gross Sales, unauthorized use of the marks, failure to pay taxes, understating Gross Sales, termination of a financing agreement, breach of the Code of Conduct, and receipt of a termination notice under any other franchise agreement held by the franchisee or its affiliates. On termination or non-renewal the franchisee must pay all outstanding amounts, fully de-identify, transfer customer agreements and account information, assign phone numbers, domain names and websites, and stop using confidential information. The franchisor may also charge a management fee of up to 8% of Gross Sales if it or a Regional Developer runs the business after a material breach. Disclosed
Cross-default across affiliated Massage Envy agreements means a problem at one location can put others at risk. |
| Supplier restrictions (Item 8) | The franchisee must buy furniture, fixtures, office equipment, insurance, computer hardware and software, and inventory meeting the franchisor's specifications, and must buy certain categories only from approved or designated suppliers: computer hardware and software, signage, marketing materials, software maintenance and support, architectural and real estate brokerage services, credit card processing, audio and visual services, security systems and cameras, certain digital marketing services, and massage- and facial-related furniture, products and inventory. The Initial Opening Package and specified build-out materials must be bought from designated vendors. The franchisor estimates that 90% to 95% of the purchases needed to establish the business, and 40% to 60% of ongoing purchases after opening, must come from approved or designated suppliers or meet its specifications. The franchisor is the sole designated supplier of the Meevo point-of-sale software and receives the P4 Technology Fees directly; it states it is not currently an approved or designated supplier for any other required goods or services. For the year ended December 31, 2025 the franchisor reported total revenues of $95,357,434, of which $13,475,829 (about 14.1%) came from franchisee technology and support fees, and it separately earned $779,396 from approved and designated suppliers plus $5,431,094 in referral fees from designated third-party distribution vendors. Disclosed
Franchisor revenue figures are from the "Revenues of Franchisor" section of Item 8 at PDF page 40. Item 8 also requires specified insurance, including sexual misconduct and molestation coverage, currently at a temporarily reduced minimum of $250,000 per claim and $1,000,000 annual aggregate. |
| Dispute resolution | Except for certain claims, the parties must first mediate and, if that fails, arbitrate all disputes. Actions must be brought in the county where the franchisor's principal place of business sits at the time the dispute arises, currently Maricopa County, Arizona; where state law bars restricting venue outside the franchisee's state, the franchisee may instead sue at home. Arizona law governs, subject to state riders. The FDD carries a state-mandated risk factor warning that out-of-state dispute resolution may cost more and may push a franchisee toward a less favorable settlement. Disclosed
|
- Minimum sales requirement: the business must generate at least $500,000 in Gross Sales in any consecutive twelve-month period after opening. Falling short gives the franchisor the right to terminate the franchise agreement or, instead, to impose an approved business recovery plan; failure to maintain minimum Gross Sales is also listed as a non-curable default in Item 17. In the FY2025 Item 19 data, the lowest-performing unit reported $145,352.
- The system contracted in each of the three years reported in Item 20, from 1,083 franchised outlets at the start of 2023 to 993 at the end of 2025, with only 14 openings across all three years combined.
- Item 3 discloses an ongoing group of customer lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct by massage therapists at franchised locations, and Item 8 requires franchisees to carry sexual misconduct and molestation insurance and to use a designated third-party incident reporting and investigation service.
- Mandatory Refresh: a franchisee acquiring an existing business or signing a successor agreement must complete a remodel to current standards, paying up to $1,900 for CAD/site survey work, $3,000 for architectural plans, and all remaining construction costs.
- Spousal guaranty: spouses of owners must sign the guaranty even if they hold no interest in the business, a point the FDD highlights as a state-mandated special risk.
- The franchisor may unilaterally change the Operations Manual and System Standards at any time, and Item 8 warns that such changes may require additional capital investment or raise operating costs.
- Roughly three-quarters of a typical unit's revenue comes from membership dues and packages, a recurring-billing model that has been the subject of several consumer class actions described in Item 3.
Summaries are neutral paraphrases of the cited document and are not legal advice. Read the full Items in the current FDD and consult a franchise attorney.
Illustrative unit economics
Model estimateModel estimate — not disclosed by the franchisor, not a forecast. Fee lines below come from this brand's verified FDD fee schedule and are computed exactly as disclosed (each line shows its arithmetic). Operating-cost ratios are category placeholders we chose — every one is editable and labeled assumption. Results are illustrative arithmetic, not expected returns. Every figure here belongs to one of five labeled categories — disclosed inputs, model assumptions, unmodeled mandatory fees, user-editable assumptions, and exclusions — defined in our methodology.
| Line (annual) | Downside | Base | Upside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (AUV basis) | $678,916 | $1,210,966 | $1,392,611 |
| − Cost of goods / supplies assumption | $54,313 | $96,877 | $111,409 |
| − Payroll (excl. owner) assumption | $305,512 | $544,935 | $626,675 |
| − Occupancy assumption | $81,470 | $145,316 | $167,113 |
| − Other operating expenses assumption | $81,470 | $145,316 | $167,113 |
| − Royalty disclosed 6% of gross sales = $72,658 |
$40,735 | $72,658 | $83,557 |
| − National Advertising Fund disclosed 2% of gross sales = $24,219 |
$13,578 | $24,219 | $27,852 |
| − P4 Technology Fees disclosed $705/month × 12 = $8,460 |
$8,460 | $8,460 | $8,460 |
| − Centralized Tech Solutions & Support Fee disclosed $390/month × 12 = $4,680 |
$4,680 | $4,680 | $4,680 |
| − Rapid Response/D3 disclosed $90/month × 12 = $1,080 |
$1,080 | $1,080 | $1,080 |
| = Modeled operating result before the items below (EBITDA-style) | $87,617 | $167,425 | $194,672 |
| − Manager compensation assumption | $55,000 | $55,000 | $55,000 |
| = Modeled result after manager compensation | $32,617 | $112,425 | $139,672 |
| − Illustrative debt service assumption | $98,745 | $98,745 | $98,745 |
| = Illustrative pre-tax cash flow — before taxes, capital expenditures and unmodeled fees | −$66,128 | $13,680 | $40,926 |
| Modeled operating margin | 12.9% | 13.8% | 14% |
This modeled result is not owner income. It excludes: income taxes; capital expenditures and equipment-replacement reserves; working-capital needs; ramp-up losses; owner-specific costs; one-time and per-event fees (transfer, renewal, audit); and 3 mandatory fee(s) whose amounts the FDD does not state (listed below — real outflows are higher by these amounts). It is illustrative arithmetic on stated assumptions, not a promise or forecast of what a franchisee earns.
Mandatory fees disclosed but not quantified — not included in the modeled result: the FDD requires these but states no amount (e.g. billed at "then-current" rates). They are never modeled as $0. If you have a quote or estimate, enter an annual amount to include it as your own assumption:
- Refresh CAD Rendering or Site Survey Fee (Item 6, p. 28) — Episodic - triggered by the multi-year Refresh Program cycle, not an annual recurring charge; the refresh interval is not stated in Item 6.
- Refresh Architectural Plans Fee (Item 6, p. 28) — Episodic - triggered by the multi-year Refresh Program cycle, not an annual recurring charge; the refresh interval is not stated in Item 6.
- Required insurance premiums (Item 7, p. 34) — Not an Item 6 fee; included because it is a mandatory recurring operating obligation, consistent with how insurance is carried for other brands in the corpus. The $10,000-$35,000 range is arithmetic on Item 7 Note 11, not a figure the FDD prints, and actual premiums vary by carrier, state and risk profile.
Every figure in this table is a model estimate built on the disclosed fee schedule plus labeled assumptions. Excluded: income taxes, owner draw, working-capital swings, capital expenditures, ramp-up losses in year one, one-time and per-event fees (transfer, renewal, audit), and the undisclosed-amount fees listed above. Read AUV vs. EBITDA vs. owner income before using this.
Sources and provenance
Primary source: 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy) · issued 2026-04-29. Find the FDD at Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search. We cite source pages and do not redistribute PDFs.
View all sources, provenance and verification notes
| Document | Obtained from | Dates | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document — ME SPE Franchising, LLC (Massage Envy) Registry file 641588 · 289 pages Wisconsin registration effective 5/3/2026, status Registered. Item 20 data run through the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. | Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions — Franchise Registration Search | Issued 2026-04-29 Retrieved 2026-08-29 | Newest available at retrieval |
AI-assisted extraction from the archived FDD text, independently machine-verified against the cited source (two passes plus tie-break); not human-reviewed. Extracted 2026-08-29. Last updated 2026-09-05. AI-assisted extraction independently machine-verified against the cited source document (2026-09-02): two independent AI reading passes plus tie-break re-inspection of every disagreement; 73 of 77 material fields confirmed (69 with the exact page citation re-confirmed), 1 corrected, 0 unresolved, 4 confirmed not disclosed. No human has reviewed this profile. Fiscal year covered: FY2025 (Dec 31, 2025). See how we use AI and verify data.
Fields flagged as uncertain (5)
- franchisor.business_since — set to 2002, the earliest year Item 1 discloses a Massage Envy Business in operation (a former affiliate of the predecessor operated one to four traditional locations in Phoenix from February 2002 to October 2006). The current franchisor entity was only formed in 2019 and became franchisor in June 2019; the predecessor MEF acquired the system in December 2009.
- risk.litigation.count — 22 is a judgment: 1 aggregate active group of unnumbered customer suits, 10 named concluded matters, 7 arbitrations the franchisor filed against franchisees in the last fiscal year, and 4 affiliate regulatory matters. The FDD does not state a total, and the active customer-suit group covers an unstated number of individual lawsuits.
- fees.transfer_fee.value and fees.renewal_fee.value — Item 6 states both as two-thirds of the then-current initial franchise fee rather than a dollar amount, so both are recorded as derived ($30,000 = 2/3 × the current $45,000 standard initial fee). The actual amount will differ if the initial franchise fee changes before the transfer or renewal.
- fees.cooperative — recorded as not_disclosed. Item 6 describes the Regional Advertising Cooperative in detail but states no rate or amount, since contributions are set by the cooperative's members and are not currently required while the national and supplemental marketing funds operate.
- investment.liquidity_required and investment.net_worth_required — no minimum liquid capital or net worth figure appears anywhere in the reviewed cover pages, Item 1, Item 5, Item 7, Item 11 or Item 15.
Extraction notes (10)
- Item 7 contains a single table; there are no alternative formats (no conversion, non-traditional or multi-unit table), so investment.alternative_formats is omitted. The 13 line items sum exactly to the disclosed totals of $695,870 and $1,046,506.
- The Item 7 franchise fee row shows $28,000 to $45,000 because it spans the multi-unit and VetFran discounts. Per the extraction rules, franchise_fee_low and franchise_fee_high are both recorded as the standard $45,000 first-unit fee, with the discounts described in the notes.
- Item 20 Table 3 totals reconcile for all three years: 1083 + 10 − 3 − 1 − 0 − 36 = 1053; 1053 + 1 − 16 − 2 − 0 − 27 = 1009; 1009 + 3 − 4 − 5 − 0 − 10 = 993. Table 3 year-end totals match Table 1.
- Item 19 cohort counts also foot: the Table 3 operating-year categories sum to 62 + 495 + 332 + 80 + 20 = 989, and the Table 1 quartiles sum to 247 + 247 + 247 + 248 = 989.
- The system has had no company-owned outlets in 2023, 2024 or 2025, so every Item 19 and Item 20 figure reflects franchised operations only.
- item19.population_share_of_system is 99.6, computed as 989 Network units divided by the 993 franchised outlets open at fiscal year end 2025.
- The post-term non-compete duration of 18 months is not in the Item 17 table; it comes from Section 15.D of the form Franchise Agreement reproduced at Exhibit B (Item 23, PDF page 153). The Item 17 table gives only the 25-mile radius.
- The 2026 FDD, issued April 29, 2026 and registered in Wisconsin effective May 3, 2026, is the newest available document, so is_current is true.
- Item 4 refers bankruptcy disclosures for Regional Developers to Exhibit G, which was not reviewed; risk.bankruptcy is recorded as none_disclosed on the basis of Item 4's own text.
- Verification 2026-09-02: correct /fees/local_marketing None → {'value': 4, 'unit': 'pct_gross_sales', 'range_high': None}
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