500+ Unit Franchise Giants With The Most Failed Locations
Written by: Parth Parth
Last Updated by
Rocío Torres: September 19, 2022
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Download NowThese 20 franchises have closed 50 to 3,600+ locations in a 3 year period! We have analyzed our database of over 5,500+ offerings and compiled this exclusive list of failed locations for you. For our analysis, we have taken data for the prior three years starting with 2018 (or 2019 depending on disclosures provided by the franchise brand).
We will only be looking at franchises with failed locations that have 500+ units. Let’s dive into the data:
| Franchise | Net Unit Change | Change in Units |
|---|---|---|
| N2 Publishing sells advertising to businesses that wish to advertise in print magazines, newsletters, and/or directories for residential communities, cities, towns, and villages. | -33% | –312 |
| Liberty Tax Service offers a franchise program to operate tax return preparation offices utilizing special marketing techniques and operating procedures. | -31% | -1027 |
| Cleannet operates an independent commercial Cleaning and related services business. | -29% | -600 |
| Fantastic Sams salons provide a full range of haircare products and services to men, women, and children. | -27% | -248 |
| GNC is a global company specializing in the sale of health and nutrition-related products. Including vitamins, supplements, minerals, herbs, sports nutrition, and diet products. They have over 9000 stores in more than 50 countries, making them one of the largest retailers of nutritional supplements in the world. In addition to its brick-and-mortar stores, GNC also has an online presence and sells its products through third-party retailers. | -24% | -248 |
| Edible Arrangements sells sculpted fruit floral arrangements, floral bouquets, plush animals, popcorn, nuts, coffee, teas, gift baskets made with fresh fruit, chocolate-covered fruit, fruit smoothies, fruit salads, cookies, cheesecakes, and similar individual-serving-size baked goods, fruit and yogurt products, and other chocolate and fruit-related products. | -19% | -206 |
| Regal Nails Salon & Spa is a nail salon chain. | -17% | -125 |
| Merle Norman Cosmetics is a franchise for a store selling Merle Normal Cosmetics exclusively. | -15% | -161 |
| H&R Block is a tax return preparation business and may have the right to offer related products and services, bookkeeping, payroll services, and training. | -15% | -505 |
| Subway sells sell foot-long and other sandwiches, salads, and other food items from a retail establishment. | -15% | -3651 |
| Rodeway Inn is a hotel business. | -14% | -84 |
| Pizza Hut Traditional restaurants offer pizza, pasta and other Italian-style food items and WingStreet chicken products and side dishes. | -14% | -829 |
| Tire Pros offers franchises to convert your existing tire store to a Tire Pros store. | -14% | -97 |
| Econo Lodge offers a hotel business, too. | -13% | -105 |
| Century 21 is a real estate brokerage offering service. | -12% | -270 |
| Pizza Hut Non-Traditional sells the same products as Pizza Hut but from non-traditional locations. | -12% | -174 |
| Jazzercise offers dance fitness programs. | -11% | -730 |
| Church’s Chicken quick-service restaurants specializing in the sale of fried chicken. | -11% | -112 |
| Dairy Queen Treat sells trademarked Dairy Queen soft-serve, treat products, and beverage menu items, and a limited number of approved food items. | -10% | -99 |
| Comfort Keepers provides in-home care for the elderly and other adults who need assistance in daily living, including homemaker/companionship care, personal care, and personal technology services and equipment. | -9% | -9% |
Conclusion
It is interesting to see the decline of Pizza Hut and Subway. At the same time, hotel chains like Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn are also consolidating, if not completely closing down. What is essential to note is that franchises like Subway with over 22,000 locations are unlikely to die out completely, but certainly, with so many failed locations, they are past their prime.
