Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S7442 since 2022
GATSBY GLASS
Home Services · independent · est. —
Gatsby Glass is a residential and commercial glass installation business handling custom shower doors, mirrors, glass railings, tabletops, and storefront glass. A franchisee runs a service company, doing measurements and consultations and managing installation crews.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The main concern in the record: too many owners are failing outright rather than selling.
Exit rate · latest year
17.0%
vs 9.2% across 42 home services systems
Cost to open
$201K–$259K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
30.0%
10 loans resolved — directional only
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2021–2025
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2025, 16 of 94 franchised outlets left the system — a 17.0% annualized exit rate, vs 9.2% across 42 home services systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 0 | 5 | 9 | 50 | 94 |
| Opened | 0 | 4 | 41 | 76 | 59 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 16 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 0 | 9 | 50 | 94 | 137 |
| Net change | 0 | +4 | +41 | +44 | +43 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 46 SBA-backed loans to GATSBY GLASS franchisees since 2023. Only 10 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 3 of them charged off.
—
10 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$292,219
what recent franchisees borrowed
33 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO GATSBY GLASS BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
A typical GATSBY GLASS buyer since 2020 borrowed $292K through SBA — about $47K a year in debt service. Against the brand's own disclosed median unit revenue of $945K, that is 5.0% of every dollar the store takes in — before rent, payroll, food, or royalty.
Who finances it
the Huntington National Bank
56.5% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 10.0% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
30.0%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 46 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to GATSBY GLASS franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $60K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $201K–$259K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$201K–$259K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$60K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$50K
5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$500K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for GATSBY GLASS with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
The public record puts this brand toward the safer end of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.
Risk percentile (range)
4–28 / 100
Directional
Modeled SBA charge-off
8.2%
Observed SBA charge-off
30.0%
Top drivers: Net unit growth (lowers) · Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · Single-lender dependence (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (raises). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for GATSBY GLASS. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing GATSBY GLASS's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →GATSBY GLASS franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of GATSBY GLASS franchises closed last year?
In GATSBY GLASS's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 16 of 94 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 17.0% — compared with 9.2% across 42 home services systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a GATSBY GLASS franchise cost?
Per GATSBY GLASS's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $60K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $201K–$259K (Item 7).
What royalty does GATSBY GLASS charge?
GATSBY GLASS charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does GATSBY GLASS disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — GATSBY GLASS makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $945K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.