Franchise Facts Report → brands → Cost Cutters
Cost Cutters franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk Shrinking network Item 19 disclosed
Cost Cutters is a beauty and personal care franchise with an initial investment ranging from $180,990 to $342,340.
Everything below is free, read straight off Cost Cutters's registered filing. The $99 report is the part a single FDD can't give you: the earnings figures themselves, and where every number lands against beauty & personal care peers.
The numbers above tell you what Cost Cutters discloses. The report tells you whether that's good:
- The earnings figures themselves — the average unit revenue Cost Cutters puts on paper in Item 19, and what it does and doesn't include.
- Where every number ranks — investment, fees, royalty, earnings and churn against beauty & personal care median and quartile. This is the part no single FDD, and no AI reading one, can produce.
- What's driving the medium risk read — the specific figures behind it, not the label.
- The litigation, split properly — beyond the count above: each case, and which ones franchisees brought against the franchisor rather than the reverse.
- The questions to ask before you sign — drawn from what Cost Cutters's own filing leaves open, in the words to use on the call.
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Compare 3 brands — $249 See a sample reportFigures above are as disclosed in Cost Cutters's most recent FDD (registered 2025). Source: Minnesota Dept. of Commerce — CARDS franchise registrations · filing 35364-202602-03 — check it yourself. The Item 19 figures, where each number ranks against peers, and the litigation & churn detail are in the full report.
How much does a Cost Cutters franchise make?
Cost Cutters is one of the franchisors that answers this on the record: its most recent FDD makes an Item 19 financial performance representation — actual unit earnings figures, disclosed by the franchisor itself. The average revenue Cost Cutters reports, what that figure does and doesn't include, and where it ranks against beauty & personal care peers are in the full report. See every beauty & personal care brand that discloses earnings in the Salon, beauty & personal care franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.
Cost Cutters franchise profit vs. revenue
Revenue is not profit. An Item 19 almost always reports sales — what a location takes in — not what an owner keeps. Out of that number come Cost Cutters's 6% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a Cost Cutters franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "Cost Cutters franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure. The full report sets Cost Cutters's disclosed revenue against its total ongoing fee load, so you can see what that revenue has to cover before anything reaches you.
Cost Cutters lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
Cost Cutters's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025) does disclose 1 legal proceeding in Item 3 . Item 3 is the item where a franchisor must put its material legal history on the record. Two things it is not: it covers the franchisor and its predecessors, parents and affiliates, so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against Cost Cutters itself; and a disclosure is a fact, not a finding of wrongdoing — most entries are contract disputes with former franchisees, which every large system accumulates. The full Cost Cutters report lists each case with what it was about and how it ended, separates franchisee disputes from corporate and securities matters, and flags the ones a franchisee started — the split that actually matters, because franchisees suing their franchisor is the signal a buyer is looking for.
Cost Cutters closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Cost Cutters will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what Cost Cutters's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a beauty & personal care of this kind.
The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. Cost Cutters's latest tables show a shrinking franchised network — more units left than opened. The actual closure and termination counts, and how Cost Cutters's churn ranks against beauty & personal care peers, are in the full report.
The Item 19 earnings figures, every number ranked against beauty & personal care peers, and the litigation and churn detail — delivered instantly, yours to keep.
Not useful? Reply to your delivery email within 14 days for a refund — no forms, no argument.
Who owns Cost Cutters?
Cost Cutters's franchise is offered by THE BARBERS, HAIRSTYLING FOR MEN & WOMEN, INC. — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at MN CARDS; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it. The same franchisor files separate FDDs for other brands, which is worth knowing — sibling brands share a franchise-support organization but disclose their own numbers:
Compare Cost Cutters head-to-head
Beauty & personal care franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing Cost Cutters is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.
Cost Cutters franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Cost Cutters — who is the franchisor?
Cost Cutters's most recently filed FDD (2025) names THE BARBERS, HAIRSTYLING FOR MEN & WOMEN, INC. as the franchisor — the entity you would actually sign the franchise agreement with, as stated on the disclosure document itself. The same franchisor also files FDDs for Smartstyle. A registry filing names the franchisor, not necessarily its ultimate parent company.
How much does a Cost Cutters franchise cost?
Cost Cutters's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $180,990 – $342,340, with an initial franchise fee of $39,500 and a 6% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. The full report breaks down every fee line and benchmarks it against beauty & personal care peers.
How much profit does a Cost Cutters franchise make?
Cost Cutters discloses unit earnings in Item 19, but that figure is revenue — sales — not profit. Royalties (6% of gross for Cost Cutters), the ad fund, rent, payroll and supplies all come out of it, and no FDD discloses what an owner nets. Any Cost Cutters franchise profit number quoted elsewhere is an estimate. The full report shows the disclosed revenue against the full ongoing fee load it has to cover.
Does Cost Cutters disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
Yes — Cost Cutters reports unit-level earnings in Item 19. The full report shows the actual revenue figures and how they rank against beauty & personal care peers.
Are there lawsuits against Cost Cutters?
Cost Cutters's most recently filed FDD (2025) discloses 1 legal proceeding in Item 3. Item 3 covers the franchisor, its predecessors, parents and affiliates — so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against Cost Cutters itself, and a disclosure is not a finding of wrongdoing. The full report lists each case, separates franchisee disputes from corporate and securities matters, and flags the franchisee-initiated ones.
Is Cost Cutters a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from Cost Cutters's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against beauty & personal care peers, which is what the full report is for. Our read on this filing is medium risk, stated free above. For $99 you get the figures driving that read, the actual Item 19 earnings (disclosed in this FDD), where every figure ranks against peers, and the specific questions to ask the franchisor before you sign.
A Cost Cutters franchise is a $180,990 – $342,340 decision you make once, on a ten-year agreement, usually with a personal guarantee behind it. For $99 you get an independent read of the document that decides it: the actual Item 19 earnings, every figure ranked against beauty & personal care peers, the litigation split into franchisee and corporate matters, the churn behind the outlet count — and the questions to put to the franchisor before you sign. If it tells you nothing new, reply within 14 days and we'll refund it.
Not useful? Reply to your delivery email within 14 days for a refund — no forms, no argument.
Compare 3 brands — $249Get a free email when something changes on Cost Cutters or beauty & personal care: a new FDD registration, a new lawsuit, an outlet count that shifts, or Item 19 earnings going from undisclosed to disclosed. Pulled straight from the same registries every report is built on.