Cost Cutters
Wellness & Personal Care · Beauty Salons & Barber Shops
- Active units
- 463
- Avg unit volume
- $264k
- Royalty
- 6.0%
Franchised, year-end 2024
of weekly Net Sales
About Cost Cutters
Haircuts for men and women. Find your hairstyle, see wait times, check in online to a hair salon near you, get that amazing haircut and show off your new look.
Key terms
- Franchise fee
$40k
- Existing franchisee pricing (single salon prior to 9/30/2011)
Initial franchise fee $12,500 for prior Cost Cutters franchisees
- Fee reductions/waivers in unique situations
Cost Cutters may reduce or waive fees in certain unique situations; during last fiscal year, Development Fees ranged $0 to $39,500
- Brand fund
4.0% of Net Sales
- Local advertising
1.0% of Net Sales
- Footprint
800 – 1,200 sq ft
- Fast Start Program (3-Salon Development)
$70k
- Fast Start Program (6-Salon Development)
$100k
- Fast Start Program (More than 6 Salons)
$10k
- Existing Franchisee pricing (signed 7/1/1999–9/29/2011)
$13k
- Existing Franchisee pricing (signed before 7/1/1999)
$10k
- Veteran discount
Not offered
Brand Percentile Rankings
Rankings compare brands in the same operating year. Fee and investment figures come from the FDD (2025 filing).
Growth
- Total locations329
Franchised units open at year-end
- New openings0
Gross new units opened during the calendar year
- 1-year unit growth rate-28.9%
Net unit growth versus prior year
- 3-year unit CAGR-20.5%
Compound annual growth rate of unit count over the trailing 3 years
- Unit growth ratio0.0×
Cumulative opens / closures through year-end
Unit economics
- Annual unit volume (Median)$280k
Average Sales (Salon Gross Revenues) for franchised salons with sales in all 12 months of Fiscal Year 2025.
- Annual unit volume (25th percentile)—
Per FDD Item 19 disclosure
- Annual unit volume (75th percentile)—
Per FDD Item 19 disclosure
- 1-year Median AUV growth rate—
Year-over-year change in median AUV
- Store-level EBITDA Margin—
Median unit-level EBITDA / AUV
Investment profile
- Estimated initial investment$262k
Midpoint of estimated initial investment range
↓ Lower is better - Time to open75 months
Midpoint of average time from agreement to opening
↓ Lower is better - Royalty rate4.0%
Percent of net sales paid to the franchisor
↓ Lower is better - Sales-to-investment ratio1.1×
Median AUV / estimated initial investment midpoint
- Cash-on-cash returns—
Median unit-level EBITDA / estimated initial investment midpoint. Steady-state estimate; year 1 returns will be lower as the unit ramps to median volumes.
Franchisee healthLocked
- Unit closure ratio
- Transfer vs. closure ratio
- Percent multi-unit franchisees
- Litigation rate
- EBITDA multiple on sales & transfers
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Location footprint
Showing 99 of 126 mapped locations
Sources
Financial and operating figures are sourced from the brand's Franchise Disclosure Documents. Brand percentile rankings are based on comparisons to other brands that include the same metrics in their Franchise Disclosure Documents.