Beauty
Sola Salon Studios Franchise
A salon-suite rental franchise -- a franchisee builds out and leases individual studio suites to independent stylists, estheticians, and other beauty professionals who run their own businesses inside, the same landlord-style model as Phenix Salon Suites (also in this dataset), its largest direct competitor. Founded in the Denver area in 2004; franchised unit count grew every year of its FDD's three-year window, among the steadiest growth trends of any beauty entry here.
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 Sola Salon Studios'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
$52,500
Total to open
$1,181,960–$1,939,349
Ongoing royalty
5.5% 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 beauty industry average, not a figure from Sola Salon Studios's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$1,319,460 – $2,076,849
Startup investment
$1,181,960–$1,939,349
Royalty per year (5.5%)
$27,500
Total royalty, 5yr
$137,500
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Sola Salon Studios's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical beauty profit margin (~10%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general beauty industry benchmark, not a figure from Sola Salon Studios'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
23.6–38.8 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Sola Salon Studios 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 Sola Salon Studios 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 Sola Salon Studios's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 555 | 585 | +30 |
| 2023 | 585 | 631 | +46 |
| 2024 | 631 | 660 | +29 |
Most recent year (2024): gained 29 franchised units, ending the year at 660 total.
How Sola Salon Studios compares to other Beauty franchises
Across the 10 beauty franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $558,727–$886,877, with royalties averaging around 5.9% of gross sales (based on the 9 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
$484,684–$770,754 · 6% royalty
Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa$601,695–$760,254 · 6% royalty
Great Clips$183,400–$394,400 · 6% royalty
Supercuts$185,930–$323,460 · 6% royalty
Sport Clips$236,800–$580,500 · 6% royalty
European Wax Center$327,600–$836,950 · 6% royalty
Massage Envy$695,870–$1,046,506 · 6% royalty
Heights Wellness Retreat$472,199–$551,771 · 6% royalty
Phenix Salon Suites$1,217,136–$1,664,822 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Sola Salon Studios Franchise FAQ
How much does it cost to franchise a Sola Salon Studios?
Based on Sola Salon Studios's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $1,181,960–$1,939,349, including the $52,500 franchise fee. A direct DFPI or state-registry filing PDF for this entity wasn't located via search, so this entry is drawn from the company's 2025 FDD as reproduced in Franchise Chatter's "Sola Salons Franchise Review 2026" (published 3/15/2026). Item 5: initial franchise fee ranges $45,000-$60,000 depending on franchisee status; a mid/upper figure of $52,500 is used here -- treat as approximate. Item 6: 5.5% royalty on gross revenue, minimum $500/month. Item 7: $1,181,960-$1,939,349. Item 20 franchised-unit counts for 2022-2024 (555 to 660) are reproduced from the same review; company-owned units grew from 39 to 69 over the same window. HQ address (300 Union Blvd, Suite 600, Lakewood, CO) confirmed directly from the company's own franchise-development site; exact legal entity suffix and FDD issuance date were not independently confirmed -- verify directly against the DFPI's public franchise search before relying on this entry.
What is the Sola Salon Studios franchise fee and royalty rate?
The initial franchise fee is $52,500, and the ongoing royalty is 5.5% of gross sales, per the filing on record.
Is the Sola Salon Studios franchise growing or shrinking?
Growing. Across 2022–2024, Sola Salon Studios added a net 105 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.
Keep going
- Sola Salon Studios and Phenix Salon Suites are both beauty franchises; Sola Salon Studios's total investment starts about $35,176 lower than Phenix Salon Suites's. Phenix Salon Suites Franchise
- Sola Salon Studios and Massage Envy are both beauty franchises; Massage Envy's total investment starts about $486,090 lower than Sola Salon Studios's. Massage Envy Franchise
Where this came from: A direct DFPI or state-registry filing PDF for this entity wasn't located via search, so this entry is drawn from the company's 2025 FDD as reproduced in Franchise Chatter's "Sola Salons Franchise Review 2026" (published 3/15/2026). Item 5: initial franchise fee ranges $45,000-$60,000 depending on franchisee status; a mid/upper figure of $52,500 is used here -- treat as approximate. Item 6: 5.5% royalty on gross revenue, minimum $500/month. Item 7: $1,181,960-$1,939,349. Item 20 franchised-unit counts for 2022-2024 (555 to 660) are reproduced from the same review; company-owned units grew from 39 to 69 over the same window. HQ address (300 Union Blvd, Suite 600, Lakewood, CO) confirmed directly from the company's own franchise-development site; exact legal entity suffix and FDD issuance date were not independently confirmed -- verify directly against the DFPI's public franchise search before relying on this entry. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2025. 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.