Fantastic Sams
The total investment to open a Fantastic Sams franchise ranges from $171,500 to $462,000. The initial franchise fee is $40,000. Ongoing royalties are 6% plus a 3% advertising fee.
What is the Fantastic Sams franchise?
Fantastic Sams is a hair salon offering cuts, coloring, styling and treatments to customers. The estimated total investment is $171,500 to $462,000, and the initial franchise fee is $40,000, according to the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document.
The royalty is 6 percent of sales, and the advertising or brand fund fee is 3 percent. Required liquid capital is $30,000. Net worth must be $300,000.
The franchise agreement term is 10 years. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded in 1960 and began franchising in 1976.
Loan Activity Score
43/100
SBA Default Rate
18.1%
Active Lenders
138
According to its Franchise Disclosure Document or public business records, Fantastic Sams has 512 locations, all owned by franchisees. Public SBA loan records show 138 lenders made 536 loans to franchisees of Fantastic Sams. PeerSense calculates Fantastic Sams's score as 43 out of 100, using public SBA loan performance and recent lending activity. Cost figures are based on the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document.
Franchising since 1960 · 512 locations
$171,500 to $462,000
$40,000
512
512 franchised
Proprietary PeerSense metric
FairDistinct lenders in public SBA records for Fantastic Sams
536
Total SBA loans
$139K
Average loan size
Source: public SBA 7(a) and 504 loan records through December 31, 2025
Referral fee at closing
SBA Lending Activity for Fantastic Sams
FPI Score Breakdown
Major Brand (100+ loans)
Are lenders increasingly or decreasingly funding this brand? Growing trends score highest.
Blended default rate (recent + all time) compared to NAICS sector peers.
Quality lenders actively backing this brand, with penalty for lender pullback.
FDD availability, Item 19 disclosure, and overall data completeness.
Geographic spread of SBA funded locations across states.
SBA Lending Performance
SBA Default Rate
18.1%
vs 10.8% peer avg
SBA Loans
536
Total Volume
$74.8M
Active Lenders
138
28 selective
States
39
vs. SBA Sector Average
SBA loan default rate vs. all franchises in the same NAICS sector, not limited to direct competitors
Key Highlights
Franchise Financing Resources
Data Insights
Key performance metrics for Fantastic Sams based on SBA lending data
SBA Default Rate
18.1%
7.3% above peer avg
SBA Loan Volume
536 loans
Across 138 lenders
Lender Diversity
138 lenders
Avg 3.9 loans per lender
Investment Tier
Significant investment
$171,500 to $462,000 total
Fantastic Sams: Deep SBA Data
Brand specific metrics derived directly from SBA 7(a) approval records: peak lending year, leading state, average loan size, and lender concentration. PeerSense computes these per brand so capital advisors and prospective franchisees can benchmark this opportunity against the rest of the franchise universe.
Peak SBA Year
2017
32 approvals. The best year on record for Fantastic Sams.
Top SBA State
Texas
24 SBA financed Fantastic Sams locations, the densest operator footprint.
Average Loan Size
$218K
Median $198K. Use as a sizing anchor when modeling your own Fantastic Sams unit.
Lender Concentration
47.8%
Concentrated
Share of Fantastic Sams approvals captured by the top 3 SBA lenders.
Fantastic Sams's SBA lending pipeline peaked in 2017 (32 approvals). The last five fiscal years account for 2% of cumulative volume ($3.3M approved). Operator density is highest in Texas with 24 SBA financed locations. Average funded ticket sits at $218K, with the median at $198K. Lender mix is concentrated: the top three SBA lenders account for 47.8% of approvals. Credit decisions concentrate with a small group of incumbents.
Payment Estimator
Estimated Monthly Payment
$1,775
Principal & Interest only
Indicative only, as of October 1, 2026. Not a quote, commitment or offer of credit. Final pricing, leverage and terms are determined by the lender at underwriting, after full transaction materials are reviewed. PeerSense sources the file. The lender sets pricing. What these terms mean.
Locations
Fantastic Sams, unit breakdown
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Page Review
Reviewed by Edward L. Freeman, Founder and Managing Director, PeerSense
- PeerSense is a capital advisory firm that places commercial financing with direct capital sources; it does not lend, fund, or approve loans, and the capital source sets final terms.
- Edward L. Freeman founded PeerSense in January 2020.
- He is a Registered Franchise Consultant with Business Alliance, Inc., a credential issued in March 2022, and worked as a franchise consultant there from March 2022 to May 2023.
- His recorded experience includes a $22 million SBA construction loan, with about $16 million funded on the deal.
- In the 12 months through September 30, 2026, PeerSense tracked 912 publicly announced financings with a disclosed size of $361.32 billion. PeerSense Capital Data Report · Methodology page
Last reviewed LinkedIn profileAbout Edward Freeman