HPB Blinds and Shutters

Every year, millions of homeowners and commercial property managers stare at bare windows, dated vinyl blinds, or poorly fitted shutters and recognize that the right window treatment is equal parts functional investment and design statement. The challenge is not that demand is absent — the U.S. blinds and shutters market alone generated approximately $22.1 billion in revenue in 2025 — it is that the market remains fragmented, installation quality is inconsistent, and consumers rarely know where to find a trusted, professional service provider. HPB Blinds and Shutters, operating under its consumer-facing brand Bumble Bee Blinds, was built to solve exactly that problem: a professionally franchised, consultation-to-installation window covering company serving both residential and commercial clients with custom blinds, shades, shutters, and draperies. The company traces its origins to Omaha Blinds and Shutters, founded in 2015 by Stephen Vest, whose decade of operational experience in the Nebraska market formed the blueprint for what would become a nationally scaled franchise concept. HPB Blinds and Shutters was formally incorporated in 2022, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, under the parent entity JEZ Investments LLC, a Pennsylvania limited liability company organized on May 12, 2020. The company acquired key assets from Omaha Blinds and Shutters in July 2022, rebranded those founding locations to Bumble Bee Blinds, and launched franchising in September 2022 — a timeline that underscores the speed with which experienced operators can transition an established local business into a scalable franchise system. By the end of 2023, the system had grown to 17 locations. As of the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, HPB Blinds and Shutters reports 153 franchised locations and zero corporate-owned locations operating across 24 states, making it one of the fastest-growing franchise concepts in the home services sector. Bumble Bee Blinds is part of the HorsePower Brands portfolio, a franchise development platform founded in 2019 by industry veterans Josh Skolnick and Zach Beutler with the explicit goal of building 25 service-based franchise brands and vertical integrations by 2025. Stephen Vest guides operations, Luke Schwartz serves as Brand President, and Zach Beutler has served as Chief Development Officer for HPB Blinds and Shutters and its affiliates since May 2020. The analysis presented here is produced independently by PeerSense and is not sponsored, endorsed, or compensated by HPB Blinds and Shutters or HorsePower Brands in any form.

The window coverings industry presents one of the more compelling structural investment theses in the entire home services franchise landscape, and the underlying market data reinforces that case with unusual clarity. The global blinds and shutters market was estimated at USD 69.9 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to USD 151.5 billion by 2035, compounding at a CAGR of 8.2% over that ten-year period. The global window coverings market, measured more broadly, sits at approximately $34.50 billion with an expected CAGR of 8.5% from 2024 through 2030. North America holds an outsized share of this global demand, accounting for 50.70% of the global blinds and shades market in 2025, with the United States specifically commanding approximately 79.7% of the North American segment and roughly $22.1 billion in annual revenue. The residential segment is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.55% through 2030, while the commercial segment continues to generate significant and durable revenue as businesses invest in new construction and renovated office environments with personalized window treatments. Several secular consumer trends are accelerating this demand curve simultaneously. The intersection of social media influence and the home improvement content economy — driven by platforms where interior design inspiration reaches consumers at scale — has fundamentally shifted how homeowners perceive window treatments: no longer as utilitarian fixtures but as design anchors that define the aesthetic identity of a room. Energy efficiency and sustainability preferences are creating demand for non-toxic, thermally effective window covering products, while the global rise in sleep-related health concerns is driving the adoption of blackout shading products across both residential and hospitality markets. Smart home integration represents perhaps the highest-growth demand driver, as homeowners who invest in connected lighting, climate, and security systems increasingly view motorized, app-controlled window treatments as a natural extension of that ecosystem. The market remains largely fragmented at the local and regional levels, where national franchise brands capable of offering design consultation, product expertise, and professional installation under a single, accountable brand relationship enjoy a significant structural advantage over independent operators and big-box retail alternatives.

Understanding the full cost of entry into the HPB Blinds and Shutters franchise opportunity requires a careful reading of each fee component, because the aggregate investment picture is meaningfully more complex than the headline franchise fee alone. The franchise fee is $59,500, a figure that sits at the higher end of the home services category but reflects the inclusion of comprehensive pre-opening training, territory rights, and access to the HorsePower Brands operational infrastructure. Total initial investment to open a single HPB Blinds and Shutters franchise ranges from $164,743 to $210,778, a spread driven by variables including geography, local market setup costs, vehicle requirements, initial inventory, and technology deployment. A second source in the disclosure documentation cites a range of $163,599 to $196,048, with an investment midpoint of approximately $187,761 — a figure that places this franchise firmly in the accessible-to-mid-tier investment range relative to the broader home services franchise category, where total investments frequently exceed $300,000 when real estate and build-out costs are factored in. For investors pursuing multi-unit development agreements, the total initial investment range scales to between $245,496 and $500,270 depending on the number of units committed to at signing, an important consideration for investors with growth ambitions who want to lock in territory rights at a lower per-unit cost. Liquid capital required to qualify is $75,000, and the minimum net worth requirement is $400,000 — parameters that suggest the ideal financial profile is an established professional or small business operator rather than a first-time entrepreneur working with limited capital reserves. The ongoing royalty structure is tiered: 6.00% of gross sales on revenue below $1 million, decreasing to 4% on gross sales exceeding $1 million, a design that rewards higher-performing franchisees with improved margin retention as they scale. The brand fund contribution is currently set at 0.00%, which eliminates a cost that typically ranges from 1% to 3% of gross sales in comparable franchise systems. Fixed monthly fees total $2,332 and are itemized as follows: $792 for technology, $500 for digital management, $440 for accounting services, $300 for the contact center, and $300 for special software. These fixed costs provide predictability in financial modeling, though investors must account for them as a baseline operational expense independent of revenue performance. The BUMBLE BEE BLINDS trademark was filed on December 17, 2024, and formally registered on August 26, 2025, owned by HPB Blinds and Shutters Holdings LLC, confirming the brand's intellectual property foundation is now formally secured.

The daily operating reality of an HPB Blinds and Shutters franchise is centered on two core competencies: in-home design consultation and professional installation, delivered through a structured process that begins with a free in-home consultation and ends with a finished, installed product. Franchisees are expected to operate as owner-operators, at least in the early stages of development, and the business model rewards individuals who combine sales and client-relationship skills with the operational discipline to manage scheduling, subcontractors or installers, and inventory logistics. Real franchisees Luis and Kim Ferioli, who opened their Bumble Bee Blinds franchise in September 2023, offer a realistic operational benchmark: by the time of their public testimonial, they had grown their team to include two design consultants, two installers, and two vans — a staffing model that reflects the labor structure most single-territory operators are likely to build toward in their first two years. The franchise offers a full-service consultation-to-installation model, featuring dedicated in-home design experts and visualization tools that help consumers see their selections in context before committing to purchase, a capability that meaningfully improves close rates and reduces buyer hesitation. Training is delivered through a multi-format curriculum that includes instructional videos, web-based calls, and a week-long in-person course catalog proctored by field experts, designed to prepare new franchisees for grand opening operations with both product knowledge and business development competency. Ongoing support is structured around dedicated success staff who are available to answer operational questions, help navigate unusual circumstances, and provide guidance as franchisee businesses scale. HPB Blinds and Shutters franchisees also benefit from access to Franchise Rocket, HorsePower Brands' dedicated marketing agency partner, which delivers SEO optimization, pay-per-click advertising, and paid social media strategies that the franchisor reports are designed specifically to generate qualified leads in local markets. Protected territories are a standard feature of the franchise agreement, giving franchisees geographic exclusivity and the confidence to invest in local marketing without concern about cannibalization from neighboring franchisees. The business also carries its own independent product line, Luxe Hive Fashions, which provides product differentiation and potential margin advantages over franchisees who rely entirely on third-party vendor relationships.

The HPB Blinds and Shutters franchise does provide Item 19 financial performance representations in its 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, a disclosure decision that reflects a meaningful level of transparency for a franchise system that is only three years removed from its September 2022 launch date. The financial performance data in the 2025 FDD is based on 12 reporting businesses — specifically 10 franchised locations and 2 company-owned founder businesses operating in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska — that were in active operation for the full 2024 calendar year. Average gross revenue across these 12 reporting units is $486,075, with a median gross revenue of $392,204, a gap between mean and median that signals meaningful performance variance within the reporting cohort and the influence of higher-performing outlier units on the average. The top-quartile reporting units generated $795,952 in gross revenue, while the bottom quartile produced $269,485 — a top-to-bottom spread of approximately $526,000 that is typical for a young franchise system where territory quality, franchisee experience, and time-in-market vary significantly across the cohort. Investors should note that the 12-unit reporting base represents a small fraction of the 153-unit system, meaning the financial picture will evolve materially as more mature franchisees enter the reporting pool in future FDD iterations. For context on what these revenue figures mean in terms of owner earnings, a comparable window covering franchise competitor reports typical net profit margins of 15% to 20% of revenue for well-run, owner-operated businesses, which would imply an estimated annual owner income of approximately $59,000 to $97,000 at the HPB Blinds and Shutters median revenue of $392,204, and approximately $119,000 to $159,000 at the top-quartile revenue level of $795,952. These margin estimates are drawn from publicly available competitor data and should be treated as directional benchmarks rather than guaranteed performance projections. The fixed monthly fee structure of $2,332 and the tiered royalty rate of 6% on revenue below $1 million must be incorporated into any realistic financial model when computing owner earnings against gross revenue figures.

The growth trajectory of HPB Blinds and Shutters since its September 2022 franchising launch is among the most rapid in the home services category, and the unit count data tells that story with precision. The company had zero franchise locations at the start of 2022, grew to 2 units at the beginning of 2023, reached 17 by the end of 2023, expanded to approximately 105 franchised locations as of April 2025, and is reported at 153 franchise locations in the most current 2025 FDD — a net gain of more than 150 units in under three years of franchising activity. The company's 153 units now span 24 states, and active franchise inquiries are being accepted from more than 40 states including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania, Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee, and dozens of others, reflecting a geographic expansion strategy that is deliberately national in scope rather than regionally concentrated. The Bumble Bee Blinds franchise benefits from its position within the HorsePower Brands portfolio, which includes six other service brands — Heroes Lawn Care, iFOAM, Stand Strong Fencing, Blingle!, Groovy Hues Painting, and Mighty Dog Roofing — and whose founders bring institutional franchising expertise from pre-2019 careers in franchise development. The brand has earned a 4.98 average customer rating across numerous consumer reviews, a quality signal that suggests the franchisee network is delivering consistent service experiences despite the rapid pace of system expansion. Key competitive advantages include the proprietary Luxe Hive Fashions product line, access to the Franchise Rocket marketing platform, the tiered royalty structure that rewards scale, protected territories, and the systems and technology infrastructure that a professionally managed franchise platform provides to operators who would otherwise be competing as independent local businesses with no brand recognition or marketing infrastructure. The BUMBLE BEE BLINDS trademark registration, secured in August 2025, strengthens the brand's intellectual property position as it continues to compete for market share in a fragmented but rapidly growing category.

The ideal franchisee for HPB Blinds and Shutters is a motivated owner-operator who combines comfort in a client-facing sales environment with the organizational discipline required to manage a field-based service business involving scheduling, installation crews, and inventory. No prior window covering industry experience is required — the training curriculum is designed to bring franchisees to operational readiness regardless of background — but candidates who bring experience in home improvement, interior design, real estate, construction trades, or B2C sales are likely to ramp more quickly toward the system's average and top-quartile revenue benchmarks. The liquid capital requirement of $75,000 and net worth threshold of $400,000 establish a financial floor that filters for candidates with sufficient personal capital stability to weather the typical ramp period of a new franchise without cash flow pressure distorting early business decisions. Multi-unit development agreements are available for investors who want to secure a larger geographic footprint at signing, with the total initial investment for multi-unit operators ranging from $245,496 to $500,270. The founding Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska locations serve as operational models for franchisees to observe during training, and the week-long in-person training component provides direct exposure to established operational processes. Available territories remain broadly open across more than 40 states as of the most recent expansion data, meaning the window for securing high-quality territories in major metropolitan and suburban growth markets is still open — a condition that will narrow as the system continues its documented pace of franchise development. Franchisees like Luis and Kim Ferioli, who built to a six-person team with two vans within roughly two years of opening, provide a realistic and instructive example of what the staffing and operational scaling curve looks like for an engaged, growth-oriented owner-operator in this system.

The HPB Blinds and Shutters franchise opportunity warrants serious due diligence from investors who are evaluating the home services category in 2025. The combination of a global blinds and shutters market growing at 8.2% CAGR toward a projected $151.5 billion by 2035, a demonstrated franchisee growth rate of zero to 153 units in under three years, a transparent Item 19 financial performance disclosure showing $486,075 in average gross revenue across reporting units, and the institutional support of HorsePower Brands creates an investment thesis that is structurally differentiated from the typical early-stage franchise with limited data. The total initial investment range of $164,743 to $210,778, combined with a $59,500 franchise fee, a tiered royalty of 6% declining to 4% above $1 million in sales, and a currently zero percent brand fund, positions this as a competitively structured entry into the growing home services franchise sector. The risks associated with the brand's early-stage status — including a relatively short track record, a limited historical cohort in the Item 19 disclosure, and the inherent uncertainty of a franchise system still building its operational maturity — are real and should be evaluated alongside the growth signals and financial disclosures with full analytical rigor. PeerSense provides exclusive due diligence data including SBA lending history, FPI score, location maps with Google ratings, FDD financial data, and side-by-side comparison tools that allow investors to benchmark HPB Blinds and Shutters directly against comparable home services franchise opportunities on every material dimension. Explore the complete HPB Blinds and Shutters franchise profile on PeerSense to access the full suite of independent franchise intelligence data.