Row House Franchise Cost & Review

Row House sells coached indoor rowing classes — low-impact, full-body group cardio positioned as the friendlier alternative to high-intensity formats. Built up inside Xponential Fitness, it was divested to Extraordinary Brands in 2024 during Xponential's restructuring, and today sits in that portfolio alongside CycleBar, Rumble, and Neighborhood Barre.

Figures below come from the 2023 Franchise Disclosure Document, the most recent filing we could verify — which is itself a warning. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or compensated by Row House or either franchisor. See our disclosure policy.

Read this section before the numbers

Row House is the clearest turnaround situation among the brands we cover. The system contracted under Xponential, was sold at roughly 60 studios in 2024, and its public data trail thins out after that. Every figure below describes the old regime. That doesn't make the brand uninvestable — turnarounds with committed new owners can be genuine opportunities, and Extraordinary Brands has since doubled down on the category — but it means the current FDD, not any published summary (ours included), is the only document that describes what you'd actually be buying.

What it costs

At a midpoint of about $409,500, Row House is one of the cheaper boutique builds we have reviewed — rowing machines are inexpensive relative to a bike theater or a reformer fleet, and the space requirements are modest. That low entry is the concept's best structural argument.

What studios earn — nothing we can verify

A ~$255,000 average circulates in franchise-data aggregators without a disclosed sample size or measurement year, and we could not trace it to an Item 19. Under our rules — the same ones that keep Drybar's and SWEAT440's circulating figures out of our table — it doesn't qualify.

But note what even the unverified number implies: if a typical studio grosses in the mid-$200,000s against a ~$409,500 midpoint build, capital efficiency lands near 0.6x and a 9% fee load takes ~$23,000 of it. Those economics — thin revenue on a cheap build — are consistent with a system that contracted. The bull case requires believing average unit volumes rise under new ownership; ask Extraordinary Brands to show you the post-acquisition cohort data that would support that.

The turnaround calculus

Buying into a shrinking system is a different decision than buying into a growing one, and the diligence changes shape:

• Item 20 is your most important read. Openings, closures, terminations, and transfers by year, before and after the 2024 sale. A stabilizing system shows it there first.
• Territory is genuinely cheap and available — the one real advantage a turnaround buyer gets. Markets that were locked under Xponential-era development schedules may be open.
• Resales may beat new builds. Existing studios sell at distressed multiples in contracting systems; a functioning studio at half of build cost changes the math entirely. Ask the franchisor about transfer inventory.
• The franchisor's incentives are aligned but unproven. Extraordinary Brands bought three boutique brands in two years; the strategy is real, but its operating track record with them is short.

Is Row House worth it?

Not as a conventional new-unit purchase on the public numbers — an unverified mid-$200s revenue picture against a $409,500 midpoint doesn't clear any sensible hurdle. As a turnaround entry it can be rational in two specific forms: a distressed resale of an operating studio at a deep discount, or a new build in a market where you have firsthand evidence of demand and the current FDD shows the system has stopped shrinking.

Either way, this is a purchase for an experienced operator pricing in risk — not a first franchise.

Who this fits

Row House fits a buyer who knows boutique fitness operations, can evaluate a resale P&L directly (which sidesteps the Item 19 gap entirely), and wants low-cost exposure to a format with a real differentiation story — rowing remains the rare group format that is both low-impact and genuinely full-body.

It fits poorly for anyone relying on published averages, financing at full build cost, or needing a stable franchisor with a long track record behind the current strategy.

Before you sign

Request the current FDD from Extraordinary Brands and read Items 19 and 20 before anything else — our Item 19 guide covers what a usable disclosure looks like. Call franchisees who stayed through the transition and ones who left. If considering a resale, get the studio's actual P&L and member counts rather than any system average. Then work the due diligence checklist and model your real numbers in the ROI and payback calculator.

Sources

• Franchise Times — Extraordinary Brands acquires Row House from Xponential Fitness
• SharpSheets — Row House franchise FDD, profits, costs & fees
• FranchisePayback — Row House franchise FDD, costs & fees

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Row House franchise cost?

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The most recent filing we could verify — the 2023 FDD — discloses a total initial investment of $328,000 to $491,000, including a $60,000 initial franchise fee. The brand changed hands in 2024, so request the current FDD from Extraordinary Brands; a newer filing may differ.

Who owns Row House?

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Extraordinary Brands acquired Row House from Xponential Fitness in 2024, when the system had about 60 studios across 19 states. Extraordinary Brands has since also acquired CycleBar and Rumble from Xponential, and owns Neighborhood Barre.

How much does a Row House studio make?

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We could not verify a usable figure. A ~$255,000 average circulates without a disclosed sample or year, and older filings' figures predate the ownership change and system contraction. Get the current Item 19 from Extraordinary Brands' FDD — a brand in turnaround is exactly where stale averages mislead most.

Is Row House growing or shrinking?

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The system contracted under late-era Xponential ownership — it was one of the brands Xponential divested during its restructuring, at roughly 60 units in 2024, down from earlier peaks. Ask the current franchisor for openings, closures, and transfers by year (Item 20 of the FDD shows this) before treating any growth story as fact.