Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S1752 since 2017
The Glass Guru
Home Services · independent · est. —
The Glass Guru is a home-services franchise specializing in glass repair, restoration, and replacement—including foggy/failed insulated windows, shower doors, mirrors, and screens. Technicians work both at a shop and on-site at customers' homes. A franchisee runs a glass-repair business with a storefront and mobile service crews.
The Glass Guru net unit count declined -5.1% from 2021–2025 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
Showing strain
Distress
The disclosed record shows weakness — shrinking units, elevated exits, or churn — worth reading closely before going further.
Exit rate · latest year
11.4%
vs 9.2% across 42 home services systems
Cost to open
$156K–$385K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
6.7%
15 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, 8 of 70 franchised outlets left the system — a 11.4% 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 | 72 | 78 | 78 | 72 | 71 |
| Opened | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 11 |
| Transfers | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Terminations | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Non-renewals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Outlets at end | 78 | 78 | 72 | 71 | 74 |
| Net change | +6 | 0 | -6 | -1 | +3 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 30 SBA-backed loans to The Glass Guru franchisees since 2014. Only 15 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 1 of them charged off.
—
15 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$159,385
what recent franchisees borrowed
48 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
7 vs 11
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 THE GLASS GURU BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
A typical The Glass Guru buyer since 2020 borrowed $159K through SBA — about $24K a year in debt service. Against the brand's own disclosed median unit revenue of $610K, that is 3.9% of every dollar the store takes in — before rent, payroll, food, or royalty.
Who finances it
the Huntington National Bank
20.7% 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
48.1%
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 30 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to The Glass Guru 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 $50K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $156K–$385K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$156K–$385K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$50K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
7%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$70K
7% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$700K
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 The Glass Guru with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks riskier than 85% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
85 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
18.5%
Observed SBA charge-off
6.7%
Top drivers: System size (log units) (raises) · Share financed by high-loss lenders (raises) · Item 3 litigation (log) (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (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 The Glass Guru. 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 The Glass Guru's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →The Glass Guru franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of The Glass Guru franchises closed last year?
In The Glass Guru's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 8 of 70 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 11.4% — 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 The Glass Guru franchise cost?
Per The Glass Guru's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $50K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $156K–$385K (Item 7).
What royalty does The Glass Guru charge?
The Glass Guru charges an ongoing royalty of 7.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.
Does The Glass Guru disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — The Glass Guru makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $610K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.