Fransmart’s most recent investment in GLO30 will accelerate franchise development as the brand continues to expand across the United States.
WASHINGTON (May 9, 2024)- With its first franchise investment in several years, Fransmart is not only putting money into skincare concept GLO30, but the firm’s founder and CEO also plans to open his own franchise studios.
Dan Rowe.
“We try to find brands that could be the next big thing as early as we can,” said Fransmart’s Dan Rowe. “With Five Guys, we came in when there were only four. Now there are 2,000.”
Fransmart is a franchise development company that’s worked with several restaurant and retail brands, including Qdoba, Five Guys and The Halal Guys. It often gets calls from brokers, and when a broker called Rowe about GLO30, he said he was interested, but there was one problem, he told the broker: “I don’t know anything about facials,” said Rowe. “I’ve never had a facial.”
Getting in touch with GLO30 founder Dr. Arleen Lamba, Rowe got a better feel for the brand and what Lamba was looking for in an investor. Hoping to become “the Orangetheory of skincare clinics,” Lamba laid everything out for him from sales to business operations to costs. The initial investment ranges from $376,500 to $734,500 with unit volumes ranging from $646,222 to $1.6 million across three studios.
Another factor that stood out to Rowe was staffing. As someone who’s worked with many restaurant concepts, Rowe knows a big challenge can be finding and keeping staff. When Lamba told him the brand hadn’t lost employees in three years, he had to ask how. The answer was simple: GLO30 overpays its employees and provides them in-demand benefits, said Rowe.
“Usually when I go in, I have to help with something. Like with Five Guys, they didn’t even have a POS system,” said Rowe. “With her, I didn’t have to do anything.”
GLO30 provides monthly facials on a budget for its clients, catering to each customers’ unique skin needs.
Still, he wanted the chance to see GLO30 first hand, and came up with an idea: Reach out to Abigail Freeland, a contact at Orangetheory, another brand he didn’t have experience with, and pay her to experience GLO30 and report back. The contact agreed. After her facial, Freeland reached out to Rowe not only to gush about the experience, but to join him in developing the brand.
Fransmart’s investment will go toward finding ideal franchisees for GLO30 through Fransmart’s network as well as the facial brand’s broker network. Rowe and some of the team are also investing personally in the brand as franchisees, with Alexandria, Virginia, being one of the first locations. The group already sold Arizona and Rowe is focusing on the Washington, D.C., market, where GLO30 is already established.
Rowe is also looking at current multi-unit franchisees to add more units.
“I’m constantly looking for great concepts, and there’s a lot of great concepts out there but not a lot of them I’d be franchising on because I’m running enough,” said Rowe. “These were just too good to pass up.”