Hounds Town USA Added Seven Units and Increased System-Wide Revenue by 45 Percent in 2018

Doggie daycare franchise Hounds Town USA experienced significant unit and revenue growth in 2018, with seven new units plus a system-wide gross revenue of almost $4 million, and is well on its way to becoming a major player in the growing pet care space in 2019.

The revenue for 2018 marked an increase of almost 45 percent from 2017 for Hounds Town USA. The brand added new franchises in New York and New Jersey, and has seven new locations in development in the Atlanta, Nashville and Pittsburgh markets.

The increase in system-wide revenue is due to a few factors. For one, there were two new store openings in New Jersey in 2018. Also, two Long Island Hounds Town USA stores did extremely well in their first full 12 months of business. Three veteran Hounds Town USA locations have also been continuously increasing their revenue.

The variety of earning potential in the different stores has helped the brand’s overall growth. Veteran stores continued to break revenue records and the brand’s new locations continued to exceed key performance indicators, according to Hounds Town USA President Jackie Bondanza.

“Many of our stores are in various different stages of business, and it’s exciting to see how far they’ve come since they opened,” Bondanza said. “All of our stores exceeded their revenue goals for 2018, from our corporate store in Ronkonkoma, New York to our stores that have only been open for two months.”  

Bondanza highlighted the brand’s best-performing store, which is located in Farmingdale, on New York’s Long Island. That store grossed nearly $1 million in 2018.

"When purchasing Hounds Town Farmingdale in 2015, we'd never dreamed it would have become so successful,” Hounds Town USA franchisee Maria Gillen said. “The three of us each have something unique to bring to the table, and of course our wonderful staff has made it all possible."

Gillen is in the process of opening a second Hounds Town USA franchise in nearby Hicksville.

"Hounds Town Hicksville will enable us to accommodate even more four-legged campers,” she said. “Since Farmingdale has hit maximum capacity, this new facility, which is twice the size of Farmingdale, will allow even more pups to have a safe, fun place to go while Mom and Dad are at work or on vacation. We anticipate an end-of-March opening."

In addition to that opening, a 5,000 square-foot store is set to open in Garden City, also on Long Island. That will make for seven Hounds Town USA franchises on Long Island alone.

“Having so many successful locations within a 50-mile range makes us very optimistic in terms of what we can accomplish in other markets,” Hounds Town USA Founder and CEO Mike Gould said. “It proves that word gets around when you provide a great service.”

A different doggie daycare approach

At Hounds Town’s core business philosophy is the belief that a doggie daycare facility does not have to be extremely fancy. Indeed, this is one of the brand’s major selling points, as franchisees do not need to invest a ton of money into making their facilities look like something out of an HGTV episode.

That ethos has paid off.

“Our growth is not accidental,” Bondanza said. “We have a simple business model, one that is dedicated to keeping costs down for our franchisees. A lower buy-in and lower buildout costs mean a higher and faster ROI for our franchisees.”

The brand is adamant about making sure that franchisees get their money’s worth and that they are not obligated to invest in unnecessary items.  

“Here at Hounds Town USA we’re very much about growing our brand as a team,” Bondanza said. “We don’t want to exploit our franchisees. We want them to be successful and happy and also to feel supported.”

The Hounds Town USA executive team understands that part of the appeal of becoming a franchisee is having more control over one’s career choices.

“We want to avoid making franchisees have an exorbitant initial investment,” Gould said. “We don’t want to make investing in a Hounds Town USA franchise an impossible endeavor. We want to help our franchisees in their quest to have more control over their destinies.”

The brand is currently seeing an elevated interest from prospective franchisees. Bondanza noted that the average unit volume of a veteran Hounds Town USA store is comparable to others in the space. Other pet care franchises, she noted, have very high build-out costs that do not provide franchisees with a great deal of additional revenue in their stores.

“The sales-to-investment ratio for Hounds Town USA is over 300 percent, compared to that of our competitors’, which is under 100 percent,” Bondanza said.

An established brand - and a different mindset

Hounds Town USA is far from being a newcomer to the pet care industry. It was founded in 2001 by Gould, a former NYPD canine unit and police dog handler. Gould has more than 35 years of experience in the commercial dog field, and retired from the business to focus completely on Hounds Town USA.

Since its inception, the brand has cared for more than one million visitors, both canine and feline, providing an interactive doggie daycare space that also offers overnight boarding, grooming and pet taxi services.

A major reason why Hounds Town USA has succeeded and continues to grow is because of the way it views dogs and imparts this view on franchisees.

“Here at Hounds Town USA we have a deep knowledge and understanding of dogs,” Gould said. “Too often, people treat their dogs as if they are humans and don’t let them interact the way they should, which is with other dogs. This is a major part of our franchisee training, both when they first join us and as part of their continuing education. This is what sets us apart from other pet-related franchises that lack a basic understanding of the animal brain. They cannot provide what we provide at Hounds Town.”

The brand, for example, does not discriminate against any dog breeds. All of them are permitted to stay and play, including pit bulls, and the brand does not charge customers more money just so their dogs can get a bit more attention.

“Not only are many pet care franchises missing the mark, but they’re also overcharging for services and taking advantage of their customers’ wallets,” Bondanza said. “At Hounds Town, we offer things like belly rubs, specialized attention and extra play time for free. We know that these are all basic things that dogs can greatly benefit from and we’re not going to charge extra for them.”

Looking ahead

Thanks to a franchise system that is expanding successfully and a relatively simple all-inclusive pricing system, the brand is poised for continued growth in 2019.

“We have an honest and straightforward approach to pet care, and that has translated extremely well to our franchise business model,” Bondanza said. “We are set to gain significant traction over the next 12 to 18 months with our brand expansion, and we’re excited to speak with prospective franchisees who want to grow with us and bring top-notch doggie daycare services to their communities.”

The startup costs for a Hounds Town franchise range from $175,300 to $249,000. The franchise fee is $39,000. To learn more about franchising with Hounds Town, visit https://www.houndstownfranchise.com/.