Can Body20 require franchisees to purchase specific brands of equipment?
Body20 Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
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ITEM 8 RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Authorized Products and Services. We have the right to require that all furniture, fixtures, signs, and equipment (collectively, the "Operating Assets") and products, supplies, and services that you purchase for resale or purchase or lease for use in your Studio: (i) meet specifications that we establish from time to time; (ii) be a specific brand, kind, or model; (iii) be purchased or leased only from suppliers or service providers that we have expressly approved;
and/or (iv) be purchased or leased only from a single source that we designate (which may include us or our affiliates or a buying cooperative organized by us or our affiliates).
You must offer to customers only the products, services, and Sessions we approve in writing. In addition, you must offer the specific products, services, and Sessions that we require in the Manuals or otherwise in writing. We may change these specifications periodically, and we may designate specific products or services as optional or mandatory. You must offer all products or services that we designate as mandatory. You may sell products and services only in the varieties, forms, and packages that we have approved in accordance with our System Standards. You must maintain a sufficient supply of required products to meet the inventory standards we prescribe in the Manuals (or to meet reasonably anticipated customer demand, if we have not prescribed specific standards).
We may require you to purchase merchant processing services from us, our affiliates or an approved or designated vendor. The payment processor may process all credit card payments related to your Studio and remit payment to you of all monies owed, after withholding any Operating Fees (i.e., Royalty Fees, Brand Fund Fees, Technology Fees, and Music Licensing Fees) payable to us and any payment processing fees payable to the processor.
You must conduct all Sessions in accordance with the System. You must offer at the Studio any Sessions that we deem to be mandatory. Any Sessions that you or your fitness coaches develop must be consistent with the System Standards that we specify from time to time. If we disapprove of any Sessions that you offer, you must immediately discontinue offering the Session or modify the Session in accordance with our instructions.
Source: Item 8 — RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (FDD pages 32–37)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Body20's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, Body20 has the right to require franchisees to purchase or lease furniture, fixtures, signs, and equipment (collectively, "Operating Assets") that meet specific brand, kind, or model standards. These items must be purchased or leased only from suppliers or service providers that Body20 has expressly approved, or from a single source that Body20 designates, which may include Body20 or its affiliates.
This means that as a Body20 franchisee, you may not be able to choose your own brands of equipment or suppliers. Body20 maintains control over these choices to ensure consistency and quality across all franchise locations. This can impact your costs and potentially limit your options, but it also ensures that you are using equipment and suppliers that meet Body20's standards.
Body20 estimates that the cost to purchase and lease all equipment, inventory, and other items and services that franchisees are required to obtain from Body20 or its affiliates, from designated suppliers, or in accordance with Body20's specifications ranges from 75% to 90% of the total cost to purchase and lease equipment, inventory, and other items necessary to establish a Studio and 30% to 45% of the total cost to purchase and lease equipment, inventory, and other items to operate a Studio.
If a franchisee wants to use products, supplies, Operating Assets, or services that Body20 has not approved, they must submit a written request for approval. Body20 has the right to inspect the proposed supplier's facilities and test samples, and the franchisee will pay a charge equal to the greater of $1,000 or Body20's actual costs related to the inspection and testing, whether or not the item, service, supplier, or service provider is approved. Body20 can grant, deny, or revoke approval based solely on their judgment.