In this FDD Talk post, you’ll learn the following:

• Section I – Background information on the Pure Barre franchise opportunity, including relevant news updates

• Section II – Estimated initial investment for a Pure Barre franchise, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2018 FDD

• Section III – Initial franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing fee, and other fees for a Pure Barre franchise, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2018 FDD

• Section IV – Number of franchised and company-owned Pure Barre outlets at the start of the year and the end of the year for 2015, 2016, and 2017, based on Item 20 of the company’s 2018 FDD

• Section V – Presentation and analysis of Pure Barre’s financial performance representations, based on Item 19 of the company’s 2018 FDD, including information on the:

• 2017 average unit volume for the 339 franchised Pure Barre studios in the United States that were in operation during the entire 2017 calendar year and did not have a change in ownership during that time

Section I – Background Information

15 Things You Need to Know About the Pure Barre Franchise

Brand Ambassador Maria Menounos Featured in People Magazine

1.  In the summer of 2017, celebrity and TV host Maria Menounos joined Pure Barre as its brand ambassador. Since then, Menounos has participated in special classes to promote the brand.

2.  Around the end of May 2018, Menounos and Pure Barre were featured on People Magazine’s website after a staff writer, Kara Warner, participated in a class. Warner was invited to attend a special Pure Barre class in Woodland Hills, California with Menounos, who was there to launch Pure Barre’s June Challenge – a month-long initiative that encourages current students to bring Pure Barre newbies with them to try classes throughout the month. The studio with the most visits in June won a prize.

3.  For the special bring-a-friend-to-class class, Menounos brought her longtime friend Vicky Vlachonis, who is a celebrated osteopath (with celebrity clients such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Katy Perry, and Chris Martin) and author of the wellness book The Body Doesn’t Lie. Although Vlachonis is physically fit, she was surprised by the intensity and immediate results she felt from the Pure Barre workout.

4.  Vlachonis said, “I like it because it was very specific and small movements. You feel like you’re using your muscles and you’re strengthening, you’re lengthening, this is slower specific movements and then you tone up straight away.”

New Locations

5.  Pure Barre is continuing its growth across the United States; one of its newest locations opened at the beginning of July 2018 in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Pure Barre Bridgewater is located in the Cedar Glen Shopping Center and is owned and operated by Dianne Butters and her sister Janet Turchi.

6.  The sisters have always been physically active with Turchi saying, “My sister and I used to be avid runners, but as we got older it became harder on our joints. We were trying new things to keep us in shape, and barre was the only thing where we really saw results.”

7.  Butters and Turchi aren’t just interested in helping women get in shape, the sisters are also interested in building a community. Butters said, “We’re looking to give women a supportive community, where we can help each other and unwind. When you work out, you feel good.”

8.  Another new Pure Barre location opened in Fayetteville, Arkansas sometime in early July 2018. The studio is owned by mother-daughter duo Leigh and Gabbie Fontana. Gabbie graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Small Business Management, with an emphasis in Entrepreneurship, and decided to remain in Fayetteville after graduation to bring Pure Barre to Northwest Arkansas.

9.  The Fontanas said that they have partnered with Kadyluxe, who will create custom officially licensed Razorback workout apparel for their store. Anyone can visit to shop, not just those taking classes.

Offering Specialty Classes

10.  In addition to Pure Barre’s basic classes, several of its studios offer specialty classes which are often more intense than the brand’s regular workouts. Each local studio offers its own specialty classes including the following:

• Breaking Down the Barre – This is a free class for veteran Pure Barre clients who are looking to deepen their understanding of the technique.

• Intensive: Fab Abs – This 75-minute workout offers the Pure Barre total body workout, but with additional intense abdominal work to burn away fat and leave clients with “toned, sculpted, sexy abs.”

• Intensive: Slenderize Outer Thighs – This 75-minute workout offers the Pure Barre total body workout, but with additional intense seat work to taper in that stubborn outer thigh area and tighten up the waist.

• Intensive: Lifted Seat – This 75-minute workout offers the Pure Barre total body workout, but with additional intense seat work to lift, tighten, and tone the seat area by the end of class.

• Intensive: Bye Bye Inner Thighs – This 75-minute workout offers the Pure Barre total body workout, but with additional intense thigh work to sculpt the inner thighs, leaving them “slender and sexy.”

Company History

11.  Pure Barre got its start in 2001 in Birmingham, Michigan when dancer, choreographer, and fitness guru Carrie Rezabek Dorr opened her first studio in the basement of an office building. Dorr started with no clients and her studio had no signage or even a bathroom, but people were interested in Dorr’s workout. Her clients kept coming back after they were amazed by the results they saw.

12.  Dorr developed Pure Barre herself, which is a total body workout that uses the ballet barre to perform small, isometric movements, which burn fat, sculpt muscles, and create long, lean physiques.

13.  Initially, Dorr had no intentions to start franchising the Pure Barre concept; she was just focused on further developing her technique. However, the popularity of the Pure Barre workout spread and more and more people kept asking Dorr how they could bring the technique to their area. After meeting someone whom she felt was a good fit to run another studio, Dorr decided to start licensing the Pure Barre concept.

14.  When there were about a dozen licensed studios, Dorr launched a franchise program around 2009. Since then, Pure Barre has continued to grow across the U.S. and Canada.

Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500

15.  Pure Barre ranked No. 147 on Entrepreneur’s 2018 Franchise 500 list.

Section II – Estimated Costs

• Please click here for detailed estimates of Pure Barre franchise costs, based on Item 7 of the company’s 2018 FDD.

Section III – Initial Franchise Fee, Royalty Fee, Marketing Fee, and Other Fees

• Please click here for detailed information on Pure Barre’s initial franchise fee, royalty fee, marketing fee, and other fees, based on Items 5 and 6 of the company’s 2018 FDD.

Section IV – Number of Franchised and Company-Owned Outlets

Franchised

2015

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  265
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  343
• Net Change:  +78

2016

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  343
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  420
• Net Change:  +77

2017

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  420
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  459
• Net Change:  +39

Company-Owned

2015

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  14
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  14
• Net Change:  0

2016

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  14
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  14
• Net Change:  0

2017

• Outlets at the Start of the Year:  14
• Outlets at the End of the Year:  13
• Net Change:  -1

Section V – Financial Performance Representations (Item 19, 2018 FDD) and Analysis

Data Set

• As is common for new businesses generally, Pure Barre studios typically experience revenue volatility during their first year of operation. Their results are not reflective of and would artificially impact the results of studios that have passed through the initial opening phase and have achieved more operational stability.

• As a result, of the 457 franchisee-owned Pure Barre studios in the United States in operation as of December 31, 2017, Pure Barre has eliminated from the data set 80 that were not operating for the entire time period running from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017 (the “Measurement Period”).

• In addition, because a change in ownership of a Studio can impact the results of the Studio, Pure Barre has also eliminated from the data set 38 Studios that underwent a transfer during the period from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017. For these purposes, a “transfer” means that a Studio’s ownership was transferred to a new ownership group. It does not include situations where the only transfer was among owners of a franchisee entity.

• The results shown in Item 19 are based on the results of the remaining 339 franchisee-owned studios in the United States, all of which were open and operating as of December 31, 2017.

• No affiliate-owned studios are included in the data set.

The Methodology

• The results shown in this Item 19 reflect, solely with respect to the 339 franchisee-owned Pure Barre studios in the data set, system-wide per-studio average Unit Volume during the Measurement Period.

• For purposes of these calculations, Unit Volume was determined in the same manner as you will calculate Gross Sales as defined in the Franchise Agreement.

• To calculate the average Unit Volume, Pure Barre added the Unit Volume for all 339 franchisee-owned studios in the data set, then divided that number by 339.

• To calculate the median Unit Volume, Pure Barre put all Unit Volumes in numerical order, then selected the Unit Volume that was in the middle.

• The data used to calculate the studio’s Unit Volume was obtained either from reports submitted by franchisees or by Pure Barre polling the information directly from the franchisees’ point-of-sale systems. Neither Pure Barre nor its affiliates have undertaken an independent investigation to verify the amounts reported by franchisees.

The Results