KidStrong Closes 2025 Strong: 40 New Centers, 50 Leases, More Runway Ahead

KidStrong, the science-based youth enrichment franchise, closed 2025 with a faster opening pace, a deeper development pipeline and a renewed focus on improving unit-level performance, according to Josh Patrick, senior vice president of franchise development.

In a system built around multi-unit development, Patrick pointed to lease momentum as a key signal of franchise owner confidence. “We opened 40 locations — in 2024 it was 33 — so we saw a good year-over-year,” Patrick said. “But one of the biggest nods was that we signed 50 leases. We hadn’t signed 50 leases since 2020, which tells me the system is very healthy.”

A yearlong effort to push performance upward through added support, product investment and technology has gained traction. “We set out at the beginning of the year to raise the bar on the AUVs and bring in more support, product and technology to get franchise owners to be as profitable as possible,” he said. “From my seat in development, the fact that franchise owners are signing leases tells you everything. They don’t sign leases if they’re not profitable. End of discussion.”

KidStrong’s development results in 2025 included 148 licenses sold, with growth coming from both new owners entering the system and existing operators expanding. “Forty of those were new franchise owners signing on, which is really exciting,” Patrick said. “And 27 were existing franchise owners buying more territory — a lot of people who developed their three, four, five and are buying another five-pack to double down.”

Those signings are expected to drive a heavier opening schedule ahead. “We were well on track to open more than 50 locations because of that development and the health of the system,” Patrick said.

KidStrong also used 2025 to tighten the in-center experience, with a particular focus on retention. “At the beginning of the year, our curriculum ran the same class for four weeks,” Patrick said. “Based on member feedback, we quickly developed additional programming and made some technology changes so we could change the programming weekly and still give kids the reps they need to reach promised milestones. That made a big impact. Our churn almost immediately dropped by about two points.”

The brand also added new engagement mechanisms inside the center. “We added a streak milestone leaderboard,” Patrick said. “Kids walk in and run to the board to see where they rank against everyone in their center. The great thing is kids don’t want to break their streak, which means they’re reminding parents to take them to class.”

Heading into 2026, Patrick said the brand is continuing to narrow the profile of who it wants in the system, emphasizing proven leadership and hiring strength. “We’re leaning heavy on experience,” he said. “We need to see business competency — leadership and hiring — that you can bring into KidStrong.”

KidStrong is also using behavioral screening to improve fit. “We worked with Zoracle and developed what we call a ‘grit score,’” Patrick said. “Some of our best franchise owners score very high in grit — back against the wall, you’re going to figure it out. Now we can score incoming franchise owners on that grit factor and test it at Discovery Day to see who’s going to push through when things get tough.”

The brand is also clear about what ownership requires. “We stress it during the discovery process that this is a full-time gig,” Patrick said. “You can’t keep your job and do KidStrong. You need one full-time person. If it’s a husband and wife, who’s leaving their job to do KidStrong?”

With a growing pipeline and a more defined operator profile, KidStrong expects 2026 expansion to concentrate in the West and Midwest, where the brand says there is still meaningful white space. At the same time, Patrick said the focus will remain on building durable unit economics by improving the member experience, tightening execution and ensuring franchise owners enter the system with the right expectations about the day-to-day work required to run the business.

To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/kidstrong.

About KidStrong

KidStrong was founded in 2015 by Matt and Megin Sharp because they wanted a program focused on developing strength and confidence for their daughter Ella and other kids like her. Together, they partnered in 2017 with Matt's best friend and co-founder Lincoln Brown to help grow the program. Later, Megan Stein joined as a co-founder. Together they developed KidStrong, a science-based kids’ training program focused on brain, physical and character development for ages walking through 11 years old. KidStrong offers a science-based curriculum that is parent-focused and taught by professionals to help accelerate milestone development and promote social and emotional strength. Today, KidStrong has grown exponentially, with more than 500 franchises sold to date since the company opened its first center in 2015. Over the next five years, KidStrong plans to have more than 500 open centers in the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.kidstrong.com.