The NOW Massage
Public 311 Design
For decades, franchising meant one thing: food. Drive-thrus. Sandwich counters. Standardized menus replicated coast to coast.
Today, some of the fastest-growing franchise concepts aren’t serving fries — they’re selling lymphatic drainage, assisted stretching, massage therapy, IV drips and monthly facials. The American franchise model isn’t disappearing. It’s evolving. And wellness is increasingly at the center of that shift.
Today’s expansion isn’t limited to one or two concepts. Assisted stretching brands like StretchLab, recovery platforms such as Restore Hyper Wellness, infrared sauna operators like Perspire Sauna Studio, facial bars including Face Foundrié and Glowbar, and IV therapy providers such as Hydration Room are all tapping into consumers’ growing appetite for structured, repeatable self-care. What was once boutique wellness is becoming standardized infrastructure.
A $900+ Billion Engine — And Expanding Again
Franchising remains one of the most resilient engines of the U.S. economy.
According to the International Franchise Association 2026 Franchising Economic Outlook, total franchise output is projected to rise from $907.3 billion to $921.4 billion this year, while franchise GDP is expected to increase from $549.9 billion to $558.4 billion. The number of franchise establishments is forecast to grow to roughly 845,000 units, with employment rising by more than 150,000 jobs to nearly 8.9 million workers nationwide.
In other words: the model is not contracting. It is recalibrating and expanding.
Growth is expected to be strongest in the Southeast and Southwest, fueled by migration, affordability and business-friendly policies. The top 10 fastest-growing states for franchising in 2026 include Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, Colorado, Michigan, Utah, Ohio and Maryland — a roster that overlaps closely with where many wellness concepts are expanding.
Against that backdrop, wellness franchises are emerging as a compelling test case: high-touch, service-heavy businesses attempting to scale through memberships, professionalized operators and increasingly sophisticated capital.
Membership Economics And Margins
The NOW Massage
The NOW Massage
This is where the divergence becomes clear. Most wellness franchises operate on membership models — monthly auto-billing for facials, massages, stretching or sauna access. Recurring revenue fundamentally changes unit economics.
While food franchises often operate on net margins in the single digits to low teens, well-performing personal service franchises can reach mid-to-high teens EBITDA margins, particularly for multi-unit operators benefiting from centralized overhead. But retention is everything.
For The NOW Massage, membership is central to the model. “Membership is down the center for us,” co-founder Gara Post tells me on a call. “When we open a boutique, the goal is to secure about 50 members pre-opening. Within a year, that can grow to 350 members in a high-performing location.”
Today, Post says roughly 53% of revenue comes from members, with the remainder from non-members. “It really depends on the franchise owner and the manager,” she adds. “We stress hospitality experience. That person is critical to securing and retaining memberships — for the brand and for the operator.” On average, Post says, a NOW franchise boutique becomes cash-flow positive within six to nine months of opening.
That speed to profitability — when achieved — changes the investment calculus.
Who Is Today’s Franchise Owner?
The profile of the franchisee is evolving alongside the concept.
At The NOW, approximately 75% of operators are multi-unit franchisees, according to Post, with many starting with a single license and expanding over time. “We see a high percentage of existing operators adding locations year over year,” she says. “Our goal isn’t just to sell licenses. It’s to get operations running successfully.” Many franchisees, she notes, are “corporate refugees” — professionals deploying capital into operating businesses rather than remaining in traditional corporate roles.
The broader franchise industry reflects this professionalization. Industry data shows that more than half of all franchise units in the United States are now owned by multi-unit operators, signaling a shift from single-unit ownership toward portfolio-style franchise investment. Wellness is following that trajectory.
Recession Resistant — Or Cyclical?
The NOW Massage
Public 311 Design
Economic downturns compress discretionary spending. Wellness concepts are not immune.
Post points to The NOW’s decision to franchise in 2019 — just before the pandemic. “Then COVID hit,” she says. “We were a high-touch massage business in California with four corporate locations. We were bleeding money.”
Rather than retreat, the company leaned in. “We weren’t taking royalties from operators for years. We were writing checks and supporting struggling boutiques. We even took over a few locations corporately when needed.”
The company only began seeing sustained profitability this year, Post says — a reminder that scaling wellness is not frictionless. “There’s something to be said about stepping into a business you don’t know anything about,” she reflects. “You learn fast.”
For Heyday Skincare, the recession question remains nuanced. “Spa services as a category have historically been relatively resilient,” says Adam Ross, founder and CEO of Heyday, on a call. “COVID was obviously hard for our business. It took nearly two years for our California locations to return to pre-pandemic performance.”
Today, Ross says, key performance metrics are roughly double pre-COVID levels, suggesting behavioral normalization — and possibly durability. Whether that resilience holds in a severe downturn remains an open question.
Capital Flows: From Main Street To Institutional
The NOW Massage
Public 311 Design
Franchising once meant buying yourself a job. Today, many wellness concepts are designed for scale from inception. Private equity has steadily expanded its presence in franchising, attracted by predictable royalty streams, asset-light growth and fragmented markets primed for consolidation.
Ross says his own thinking on franchising evolved significantly. “I did a complete 180,” he admits. “In the beginning, I would have said no to franchising. But we’re a labor-intensive hospitality business — 20 to 25 estheticians per location. We needed partners with skin in the game, focused on hiring and operations, while we evolved the product and service.”
Heyday currently operates roughly 50 locations, including a hybrid mix of company-owned and franchised doors. Ross describes franchise growth in stages. “You need 20 to 25 locations and solid data before institutional capital gets interested,” he says. “Early on, you’re working with owner-operators — the blue-sky adopters. Then you reach an inflection point.” He adds: “We want fewer partners with more doors,” reflecting a broader shift toward professionalized franchisee groups.
As wellness migrates from boutique novelty to standardized infrastructure, larger capital pools are beginning to pay attention.
Urban Bubble — Or National Expansion?
A legitimate question remains: are these concepts dependent on affluent urban zip codes?
Many of the earliest locations launched in dense coastal markets where disposable income and foot traffic made membership models easier to sustain. Expansion is now targeting suburban growth corridors and high-migration Sun Belt regions.
Ross says Heyday approaches expansion through detailed territory mapping, analyzing demographic and psychographic data, competitive density and customer origin patterns. “We look at where clients are coming from, retention metrics and long-term density planning,” he explains. “It’s not about blanketing a city. It’s about being part of a community.” Still, market volatility remains a factor.
“When you have loyal, sticky clients, that’s powerful,” Ross says. “But when new technology or concepts emerge, there can be volatility. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.” If wellness franchising is a bubble, it will struggle outside premium enclaves. If it is structural, it will follow the path of boutique fitness — moving from niche indulgence to normalized habit.
The Cultural Shift
The NOW Massage
The NOW Massage
The franchise model itself hasn’t changed.
What has changed is what Americans are willing to systematize. Previous generations built franchised wealth on feeding America. This one is building it on recovery, optimization and aesthetic maintenance. Instead of standardizing burgers, operators are standardizing fascia release, LED facials, and cold exposure.
If burgers built the first generation of franchise wealth, recovery may define the next. The question is not whether wellness will scale — but whether it can sustain its momentum when the economic cycle turns.
