Brick-and-Mortar Franchises

Brick-and-mortar franchising is still one of the clearest expressions of the franchise model: a customer comes to a place, the brand experience happens there, and the location itself becomes part of the business. In this group, that physical footprint can mean a restaurant, fitness studio, clinic, hotel, retail storefront, or service center. The mix is broad, but the common thread is that the site is central to operations rather than incidental.

The range here is wide. Across 1,251 brands, the median startup investment is $239,850, while the overall range stretches from $0 to $845,773,369. That spread matters. Some concepts can be opened at relatively modest cost, while others—especially in hospitality—operate at a very different capital scale. The featured hotel brands illustrate that upper end clearly, with disclosed investment ranges running from tens of millions to well over $100 million.

Category balance also shapes what buyers will encounter. Food & Beverage is the largest segment at 431 brands, followed by Home Services at 130, Business Services at 77, Hospitality & Travel at 72, Fitness at 71, and Health & Wellness at 70. Fees tend to be familiar franchise economics rather than outliers, with a median royalty of 6.0% and a median marketing fee of 2.0%. The median outlet count is 46, which suggests a mix of emerging systems and more established networks rather than a page dominated by only one type of operator.

There is a practical tradeoff built into this group: a physical location can create visibility, routine customer habits, and a tangible brand presence, but it also usually brings site selection, buildout, lease, staffing, and local operating complexity. Because this grouping relies partly on operating-model signals and disclosure language, some inclusions are approximate rather than absolute. That makes it useful as a starting point for comparing location-dependent concepts, then narrowing further by category, investment level, and ownership style.