Merry Maids

Merry Maids provides one-time and recurring home cleaning, plus cleaning for commercial offices smaller than 5,000 square feet. Merry Maids SPE LLC is the franchisor; the brand's predecessor began franchising in 1980, while this entity began offering franchises in 2021.

The ownership chain includes ServiceMaster Systems and ServiceMaster OpCo Holdings, with ultimate ownership by funds managed by Roark Capital. ServiceMaster Systems guarantees the franchise agreement obligations; ServiceMaster OpCo Holdings supplies support services. An optional national-accounts program can provide customer leads, but participation does not guarantee leads.

The 2025 disclosure identifies Jon Nobis as CEO, Regan Stokes as president and Sunil Doshi as CFO and treasurer. It gives their recent work histories, including experience with other franchise systems and businesses.

It also identifies the legal, operations, business-consulting and franchise-development team. These are the people and positions recorded in this edition, rather than a live staff directory; several leaders also hold roles across related ServiceMaster companies.

The main section describes settlements involving affiliates Arby's and Dunkin': two concerned restrictions on hiring other franchisees' employees, and one concerned Dunkin' customer-data security. It states these cases do not allege unlawful conduct by Merry Maids itself.

The Washington addendum separately discloses a 2018 settlement involving predecessor Merry Maids LP. It denied wrongdoing and agreed to stop including or enforcing employee no-poaching clauses nationwide, notify franchisees, and offer amendments to Washington agreements. This additional disclosure appears on PDF page 248 and should be read with the main section.

Merry Maids reports no bankruptcy information that must be disclosed under Item 4 in this edition.

That is the scope of this particular disclosure. The parent companies' financial statements and the guarantee of franchise obligations are provided separately in Item 21 and Exhibit B.

The standard initial franchise fee is $55,000, due when the agreement is signed and generally nonrefundable. Two people can attend the same initial training session without an extra tuition charge; travel, wages and other attendance costs remain the buyer's responsibility.

Discounts have eligibility requirements and cannot be combined. A territory with qualifying existing Merry Maids customers can also require a $250-per-customer payment to the transferring franchisee. The $499 monthly technology fee starts after signing, before the business necessarily opens. Applicable state addenda can change when initial fees are collected.

The standard royalty is 7% of defined Gross Sales. Separate requirements include a 1.3% national advertising contribution, local marketing spending equal to 0.7% of Gross Sales, and a $499 monthly technology fee. Gross Sales includes customer billings even if they have not been collected, but excludes sales and use taxes.

The disclosed royalty incentive reduces the rate only on the portion of annual sales above its thresholds: 6% above $400,000 through $500,000, then 5% above $500,000. It resets each year and may change; national-account revenue does not count toward the thresholds. Training, transfers, audits, late payments, national-account jobs and certain contract breaches can produce additional charges.

The disclosed estimate for a new franchise is $126,880– to $170,110. It covers the franchise fee, training travel, premises, equipment and software, supplies, insurance, opening marketing, professional fees and other opening costs. It includes $38,000– to $43,000 for additional expenses before opening and during the first three months.

The premises estimate assumes an office generally ranging from 450 to 1,800 square feet; local rent and improvements can differ. The table excludes any applicable $250-per-customer acquisition payment. Buying an existing business, converting a business, purchasing extra equipment or renewing an agreement can involve a different cost structure.

Certain cleaning chemicals, vacuum cleaners and uniforms must come from designated vendors, while local marketing must use approved suppliers. The franchisor also sets product standards, required software and insurance coverage. The FDD estimates that about 80% of purchases and leases for opening and operating the business fall under sourcing rules or specifications.

An alternative supplier or product requires review and approval before use, with review fees and possible expenses. The franchisor and affiliates can earn money from required purchases and supplier arrangements; disclosed vendor payments to affiliates range from 1% to 8% of the vendors' sales to franchisees. Purchasing restrictions and insurance requirements may change.

This section is a guide to the owner's contractual responsibilities: obtaining premises and supplies, completing training, opening the business, paying fees, meeting operating standards, maintaining insurance and keeping records.

The table points to the exact agreement sections and FDD items for each responsibility. It also covers territorial sales requirements, staffing, inspections, renewal, sale of the business, personal guarantees and duties that continue after the franchise ends.

Merry Maids and its affiliates do not offer direct or indirect financing for starting or running the franchise. They do not guarantee a buyer's loan, lease or other financial obligations.

The franchisor may refer buyers to banks or third-party lenders for the initial franchise fee or business growth. It reports no financing arrangements with those lenders and no benefit from a franchisee obtaining a loan through them. This section does not establish that a buyer qualifies for financing.

Support includes initial training, access to operating materials, specified technology, marketing administration and ongoing business advice. Training addresses cleaning, staffing, sales, pricing, operations and customer service. The training table lists 80 hours across online, virtual and in-person components.

Regular coaching calls are provided during the first 12 weeks of operations. Two attendees at the same initial session are covered by the franchise fee, while travel and other expenses are separate. Required technology can change without a contractual cap on upgrade frequency or cost. The FDD gives both 90-day and six-month training deadlines in this section; confirm the applicable schedule before planning an opening.

The franchise has limited territorial protection, not an exclusive market. A typical territory includes at least 40,000 households with average annual income of $75,000 or more. The office must be within a 60-minute drive of all territory addresses. The agreement restricts the establishment of another Merry Maids residential-cleaning business inside the territory, while reserving other competitive channels and activities.

Keeping the territory and franchise depends on sales requirements measured over four-week periods: minimum average weekly sales rise from $4,000 in year one to $12,000 in year five, with later growth requirements. Repeated shortfalls can allow territory reduction, termination or nonrenewal. National-account referrals, online sales and affiliate competition are among the exceptions to protection. A location map does not establish that a territory is available.

The franchise includes permission to use the Merry Maids name and other authorized marks. The FDD lists registered trademarks and reports no relevant pending trademark challenges or known infringements that would materially affect a franchisee's use.

Use must follow the brand's rules; the franchise does not transfer ownership of the trademarks. The franchisor can require a change of branding at the franchisee's expense and does not promise to defend every trademark dispute. Unauthorized changes, domain names and uses with unapproved products or services are restricted.

No patents or patent applications are identified as material to the system. The franchisor and its affiliates claim copyright and confidentiality protections for MM360 software, operating and training materials, advertising, forms and other business information.

Access is for running the authorized franchise. Owners must protect information such as pricing, suppliers, customers and operating methods, and control how employees and advisers use it. Required changes to protected materials are at the franchisee's expense; the agreements do not promise defense or reimbursement for every intellectual-property claim.

Personal supervision is recommended but not required. If the owner does not personally supervise, or the franchisee is a company or partnership, a manager must provide direct, on-premises supervision and successfully complete the required training. The manager does not have to own part of the business.

The owner still monitors the manager and remains responsible for operations, staffing and employment decisions. Owners with a direct or indirect stake of at least 15% generally sign a personal guarantee. These conditions describe a permitted management structure, not a promise of passive ownership or a particular number of work hours.

Franchisees must provide the required services, follow the cleaning system and use approved products. The franchisor controls the authorized service menu and may change it. Pricing and advertised-price requirements may also apply where permitted by law.

Customers outside the assigned territory generally must be referred to the Merry Maids office serving that area. If no office covers the area, a franchisee may respond to a customer's request, but those customers must be transferred if the open territory is later sold. Active out-of-territory solicitation requires written permission.

The initial term is five years. Two additional five-year terms are available only if renewal conditions are met, including advance notice, compliance, training, fees and signing the then-current agreement, which may have different terms. Transfers generally require approval, and the franchisor has a right to match a proposed controlling-interest sale.

Defaults, sales requirements, termination payments and post-franchise duties are set out in this section. The disclosed post-term restriction generally lasts one year within the territory and 25 miles beyond it. Disputes generally proceed through negotiation, mediation and then arbitration in Atlanta, with exceptions and state-law changes. The applicable state addenda must be read alongside these provisions.

The 2025 FDD says Merry Maids does not use a public figure to promote its franchises.

This section therefore identifies no public-figure promotional arrangement for the franchise offering described in this edition.

For 2024, the 306 qualifying franchises in Table 1 reported median annual Gross Sales of $427,425 and average Gross Sales of $487,441. They operated under the same owner and reported sales for all 12 months, with at least 40,000 qualified households and an office inside their territory. Separate ownership-group tables combine multiple franchises and can include older territory formats.

The tables exclude businesses without a full year of qualifying operation and reporting, including transfers and closures. Sales exclude revenue assigned to ZIP codes outside the licensed territory. These are billings before expenses, not profit or owner income. Table 1's note inconsistently refers to 802 and 804 total franchises; Item 20 reports 802. Written support for the figures is available from the franchisor on reasonable request.

Merry Maids counts licensed territories as outlets, not necessarily separate offices. Franchised territories ended 2022 at 946, 2023 at 884 and 2024 at 802. There were no company-owned outlets in these tables. In 2024, eight territories opened while 10 were terminated, seven were not renewed and 73 ceased operating for other disclosed reasons.

Transfers are reported separately: 35 in 2024. Exhibits D and E list current and former franchisee contacts for further research; some franchisees have confidentiality restrictions. The FDD also names the independent MMFOA franchisee organization. The counts describe territory and agreement activity and should not be presented as a measured business-failure rate.

Exhibit B contains audited 2022, 2023 and 2024 financial statements for direct parent ServiceMaster Systems and indirect parent ServiceMaster OpCo Holdings. ServiceMaster Systems also guarantees the franchisor's obligations under the franchise agreement.

ServiceMaster OpCo Holdings provides support services but does not give that guarantee and is not a party to the buyer's franchise agreement. The exhibit also includes unaudited June 30, 2025 statements for both parents. These are company financial statements, not the operating results of a typical Merry Maids franchise.

The attached agreements include the franchise contract, territory description, personal-guarantee forms, electronic-payment authorization, general release and applicable state amendments.

The document also includes a Customer Lead Fee Agreement for applicable customer transfers and the Merry Maids Team Mobility software license. These attachments contain the detailed terms; the plain-language item summaries do not replace them.

Two receipt forms appear at the end of Exhibit J: one for the buyer to keep and one to sign and return. They record receipt of the dated FDD and its listed exhibits.

The forms state the disclosure must be delivered at least 14 calendar days before a binding franchise agreement or payment to the franchisor or an affiliate, with additional timing rules identified for some states. The receipt records delivery of the disclosure; it is separate from the franchise agreement.