Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S0985 since 2017
Lapels Dry Cleaning
Cleaning & Restoration · independent · est. —
Lapels Dry Cleaning is a dry cleaning and garment care service. Stores clean, press, and finish clothing, and many offer pickup and delivery plus environmentally friendlier cleaning methods. A franchisee operates a retail dry-cleaning shop, managing intake, processing, and customer service.
Lapels Dry Cleaning net unit count grew +2.5% from 2021–2023 per its FDD Item 20.
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 standout in the record: owner turnover is low.
Exit rate · latest year
2.4%
vs 3.1% across 25 cleaning & restoration systems
Cost to open
$42K–$1.7M
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
25.0%
24 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
2021–2023
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2023, 2 of 83 franchised outlets left the system — a 2.4% annualized exit rate, vs 3.1% across 25 cleaning & restoration 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 85 | 81 | 83 |
| Opened | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| Transfers | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| Terminations | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Outlets at end | 81 | 83 | 83 |
| Net change | -4 | +2 | 0 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 45 SBA-backed loans to Lapels Dry Cleaning franchisees since 2002. Only 24 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 6 of them charged off.
—
24 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$309,491
what recent franchisees borrowed
52 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
6 vs 8
distinct banks still 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 LAPELS DRY CLEANING BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
the Huntington National Bank
11.9% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 10.1% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
52.4%
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 45 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Lapels Dry Cleaning 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 total investment of $42K–$1.7M (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$42K–$1.7M
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
—
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$60K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$600K
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 Lapels Dry Cleaning with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks safer than 65% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
35 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
10.7%
Observed SBA charge-off
25.0%
Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers) · System size (log units) (raises) · Single-lender dependence (raises). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. 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 Lapels Dry Cleaning. 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 Lapels Dry Cleaning's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →Lapels Dry Cleaning franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of Lapels Dry Cleaning franchises closed last year?
In Lapels Dry Cleaning's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2023), 2 of 83 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 2.4% — compared with 3.1% across 25 cleaning & restoration 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 Lapels Dry Cleaning franchise cost?
Per Lapels Dry Cleaning's 2024 FDD, buying in requires a total initial investment of $42K–$1.7M (Item 7).
What royalty does Lapels Dry Cleaning charge?
Lapels Dry Cleaning charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2024 FDD.
Does Lapels Dry Cleaning disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — Lapels Dry Cleaning makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2024 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.