Fitness
Club Pilates Franchise
A reformer-Pilates studio franchise offering group classes in a boutique format, the largest brand in Xponential Fitness's portfolio (alongside Pure Barre, StretchLab, YogaSix and Rumble). Founded in San Diego in 2007 and franchising since 2015; the current SPV franchisor entity was formed in 2023. Net franchised studio growth has run over 100 a year since 2023.
Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Club Pilates's own filing.
What it costs to open
From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.
Franchise fee
$65,000
Total to open
$403,289–$1,029,811
Ongoing royalty
8% of gross sales
What you'd actually spend, over time
The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.
Defaulted to a rough fitness industry average, not a figure from Club Pilates's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$683,289 – $1,309,811
Startup investment
$403,289–$1,029,811
Royalty per year (8%)
$56,000
Total royalty, 5yr
$280,000
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Club Pilates's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical fitness profit margin (~15%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general fitness industry benchmark, not a figure from Club Pilates's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.
At that profit, you'd break even in about
3.8–9.8 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Club Pilates is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is Club Pilates actually growing?
Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:
Locations opened vs. closed, by year
GrowingFrom Item 20 of Club Pilates's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 753 | 868 | +115 |
| 2024 | 868 | 1,029 | +161 |
| 2025 | 1,029 | 1,179 | +150 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 150 franchised units, ending the year at 1,179 total.
How Club Pilates compares to other Fitness franchises
Across the 6 fitness franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $452,446–$878,146, with royalties averaging around 7.5% of gross sales (based on the 6 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
Where this came from: California DFPI Registration Renewal, App ID APP00005047, filed 4/17/2026, effective 7/28/2026. FDD issued April 17, 2026. Item 5: $65,000 initial franchise fee for a single studio. Item 6: 8% royalty and a 2% marketing fund contribution. Item 7 Table A: $403,289-$1,029,811 for a single studio; the multi-unit agreement table totals $423,289-$1,099,811. Item 20 Table 1 franchised outlets. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026-04-17. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.
If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.