Primrose Schools Franchise

Item 7 of the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) has two tables of estimated initial investment, which differ only in development costs. An Adaptive-Reuse School, developed in an existing building that is adapted and converted for use as a School, starts from $2,152,500; this low estimate includes a $1,219,050 tenant improvement allowance from a landlord, the highest allowance that franchisees leasing Adaptive-Reuse Schools received in 2025. A New-Build School, built as an entirely new structure on a raw, undeveloped site, starts from $5,016,600. Both totals exclude land acquisition costs. The low estimates in both tables use the $50,000 Initial Fee for a first School under the VetFran program for qualifying veterans and members of the U.S. Armed Forces; the high estimates use the $80,000 that a new franchisee pays, and the FDD gives no low-end total with that fee (FDD Items 5 and 7).

Primrose calls it the Initial Fee: $80,000 for a new franchisee opening a new School, $70,000 for a qualifying existing franchisee, and $50,000 for the first School of a qualifying veteran or member of the U.S. Armed Forces, paid when you sign the Franchise Agreement. The Real Estate Fee is $25,000, paid at signing, under the Build-to-Suit, Independent Development, and Site First Programs, and $70,000 under the Real Estate Development and Permanent Lease Programs: $25,000 at signing and $45,000 at the Closing, reduced to $30,000 if construction contract, lender, and financing deadlines are met. Of the $35,000 Initial Training Fee, $5,000 is due at signing and the balance at the Closing. Under the Real Estate Development, Permanent Lease, and Site First Programs, you also reimburse Primrose's Development Expenses, with 10% annual interest on amounts it pays or advances, even if the School is not built on that site. If Primrose or an affiliate is the construction manager, its fee is currently estimated at $37,500. Under a Development Agreement, you pay a Development Fee of $25,000 per School at signing, credited toward each School's Initial Fee and not refundable (FDD Items 5, 7, and 11).

The Royalty Fee is 7% of Gross Revenues, paid monthly by the 10th day of the next month. The Brand Fund Fee is currently 2% of Gross Revenues, also paid monthly; Primrose may increase it, but "not more than a total of 3% of Gross Revenues." Each month, you must also spend the greater of 1% of the previous month's Gross Revenues or $1,000 on approved local advertising. If Primrose establishes an advertising cooperative in your market, you must join it and contribute no more than 1% of the previous month's Gross Revenues, or 2% if its members vote to raise it, in addition to the local advertising minimum. The FDD says the existing cooperatives "are being dissolved as of June 30, 2026" and that Primrose may form cooperatives again (FDD Items 6 and 11).

Primrose requires each School to license certain academic curriculum materials from it. The Academic Curriculum Material License Fee is currently $4,000 per School a year, and Primrose may not raise it by more than 25% of the then-current fee in any calendar year. You also pay for required software subscriptions, including school management software and two student assessment tools, which currently cost from $450 a month. Unless Primrose decides a vehicle is not required, the School must have at least one school activity bus; the FDD estimates a 60-month lease from $1,200 a month. Item 6 also lists registration fees for Primrose's national conference, currently from $500 per attendee, and for training programs, currently from $419 per attendee, which Primrose may charge even if the people it requires to attend do not attend. The FDD's special risks include "Mandatory Minimum Payments": you must make minimum advertising and other payments regardless of your sales levels (FDD Items 6, 7, 8, and 11; Special Risks).

Item 11 of the FDD puts the typical time from signing the Franchise Agreement to opening at 24 to 36 months for an Adaptive-Reuse School and 36 to 48 months for a New-Build School. Primrose may terminate the agreement if the School is not open by its Opening Deadline: the earlier of 16 months after the site is leased or acquired and 36 months after signing for an Adaptive-Reuse School, and the earlier of 28 months and 48 months, respectively, for a New-Build School. Before opening, the School must have at least 25 pre-registrations. If Primrose ends the agreement before opening for one of the site reasons listed in Item 5, such as no site accepted within 18 months or its determination that you cannot proceed with developing the site, it refunds the Initial Fee less $20,000 and the Real Estate Fee Deposit less $10,000 and its out-of-pocket expenses for the site, and you must reimburse any Development Expenses that exceed the refund; a missed Opening Deadline is not among those reasons. If you request termination, other than by rejecting a proposed Conversion Site (a school already operating under a different brand), Primrose is not obligated to refund any fees. The Initial Training Fee is not refundable. At the end of 2025, 219 signed franchise agreements were for Schools not yet open (FDD Items 5, 11, and 20).

Item 20 of the 2026 FDD counts 557 Primrose Schools in the USA at the end of 2025, all of them franchised, up from 525 at the end of 2024 and 505 at the end of 2023. During 2025, 36 Schools opened and 4 left the system: 1 through termination, 1 through non-renewal, and 2 that ceased operations for other reasons (FDD Item 20).