Does Basecamp Fitness require franchisees to purchase branded items from approved sources?
Basecamp_Fitness Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
nitial Franchise Fee you would have paid for those Studios.
ITEM 8 RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
All equipment, furnishings, fixtures, signs, software, software support and security monitoring, supplies, branded items, marketing, maintenance services, insurance and products you purchase for use or sale in your Basecamp Studio must meet our specifications. Additionally, all membership types you offer as well as workouts provided through your Basecamp Studio must meet our specifications and, where allowed by applicable law, comply with our pricing guidelines. Those specifications may include minimum standards for delivery, performance, design, appearance, and quality. We will issue the specifications to you before you begin operating. We may include these specifications in the manual that we provide to you online, or we may issue them separately. While we do not have specifications for local advertising you create to promote your studio, we do require that you obtain our prior approval at least 4 weeks before you use any advertising materials you prepare. You may not establish or have established any digital or electronic medium or method of communication, including a website, web page, review or opinion page, social media and/or social networking site, channel, avatar, profile, including an online business profile, account, hashtag, user name or application, whether web-based or otherwise, or keyword advertising, pay-per-click
advertising or other search engine marketing, relating to or making reference to us, your Basecamp Studio, or to the Basecamp Fitness System without our approval. We reserve the right to refuse, reject, adjust or require changes to any advertising material you prepare. You must provide us with full admin access (including with log-in information) to all social media accounts, profiles and pages, business managers, and ad accounts related to your Basecamp Studio or that use our marks. You must provide ownership-level access to any Google Business profiles.
You can expect that the items you purchase to meet our specifications will represent over 90% of the total purchases you will make to begin operations. Once you begin operating, we expect the items you purchase that meet our specifications will represent between 70% and 90% of your total expenses.
If you want to purchase items for your Basecamp Studio that we have not previously approved, or items that differ from our specifications, you must notify us in writing. If we request, you must submit samples and other information we require for testing or to otherwise determine whether the product, material or supply meets our specifications and quality standards. We do not impose any fee for our consideration of an item not previously approved.
We may require you to purchase certain furniture, equipment, inventory, supplies, services and other products used or offered at your studio from vendors we approve, in which case we will provide you with a list of approved suppliers. These will include mandatory vendors (persons from whom you must purchase certain items or services), designated vendors (for items or services that must be purchased from vendors we approve), and preferred vendors (for vendors we have approved, but in categories where we do not require you obtain our approval of the vendor). These suppliers may pay vendor rebates to us and they may include our company and affiliates of ours. We may modify our mandatory, designated, and/or preferred vendor(s) at any time. We may require you to offer additional services or products and some of those products or services may require that you purchase additional equipment or training for your staff.
When we have a designated vendor (other than a mandatory vendor), if you want to purchase from other vendors the items or services for which that vendor has been designated, you must notify us in writing and obtain our approval. If you seek approval of a new supplier (or if the supplier applies directly to us for approval), we will require the supplier pay us a nonrefundable fee of $300 before we will consider approving their application. This fee is intended to defer our cost of reviewing the supplier. (We do not require you to pay any fee.) We may also require the supplier to sign a supplier agreement with us.
In reviewing prospective suppliers, we consider whether the product or service is consistent with our concept and brand; how they and/or their products or services would enhance our brand and make it more attractive to members and other customers or franchisees; how the product or service would improve the studio experience of a member; how the product or service would increase revenue of a franchisee's business; how the product or service would increase the efficiency of a franchisee; if the product or service is already available through other sources, would approval of another vendor enhance competition or dilute our ability to maximize pricing benefits for our franchisees; is the product of a commercial quality with a proven record of durability; does the supplier support our values; and other factors. In addition, we consider demand from franchisees, the need for the vendor based on business trends, and the ability of the vendor to serve franchisees throughout the United States. (The criteria is posted on our website for potential vendors and franchisees.) We will generally notify you and the supplier of our approval or disapproval within 2-12 months of our receipt of all the information and samples we request. If we revoke approval of any supplier or any item offered by a supplier, we will send you written notice of our revocation of an approved supplier or item.
As of the issuance date of this Disclosure Document, we have the following sole suppliers in our System:
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- We or a third party, depending upon the item, are currently the sole suppliers of certain items logo'd with our Marks, including any branded mobile applications, all retail products for re-sale, workout formats that you must use at your Basecamp Studio and all fitness programming. You must purchase the Build-Out Package from us. Additional items you will need to operate that are included in the Build-Out Package must be purchased from certain third parties who are the sole suppliers for these items.
Source: Item 8 — RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (FDD pages 28–32)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Basecamp Fitness's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are required to purchase branded items from approved sources. Specifically, Basecamp Fitness mandates that certain items logo'd with their Marks, including branded mobile applications and all retail products for resale, must be purchased from them or a designated third party. Additionally, franchisees are obligated to purchase the Build-Out Package from Basecamp Fitness, which includes items like signage, marketing materials, furniture, and fixtures from sole suppliers.
Furthermore, Basecamp Fitness maintains a system of mandatory, designated, and preferred vendors for various products and services. While franchisees may request approval for alternative vendors, Basecamp Fitness can require a fee of $300 from the supplier for the review process. The FDD specifies that supplies for the Basecamp Fitness studio must be purchased from designated vendors, and Basecamp Fitness may act as a designated vendor for business supplies and marketing materials.
The restrictions on sourcing products and services are significant for Basecamp Fitness franchisees, as the items that must meet Basecamp Fitness's specifications are expected to represent over 90% of the total purchases during the initial setup and between 70% and 90% of total expenses once operations begin. These restrictions ensure brand consistency and quality control but also limit the franchisee's autonomy in choosing suppliers and potentially impact their costs and profit margins. Franchisees should carefully consider these requirements and understand the implications of these purchasing restrictions before investing in a Basecamp Fitness franchise.