Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care franchise takes $39,250 – $151,050 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $18,000 – $54,000. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 8% on sales plus an ad-fund contribution of up to 2%. To qualify, Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care asks for $50,000 in liquid cash. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $18,000 | $54,000 | $18,000 to $54,000 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $39,250 | $151,050 | $39,250 to $151,050 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | Not disclosed1 | Not disclosed1 | ||
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $50,000 | $50,000 | $50,000 | |
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $39,250 | $151,050 | $39,250 to $151,050 | |
- 1 "Not disclosed" means Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care's filings do not state this figure. We publish the gap instead of estimating it.
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 8% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Up to 2% |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 10 years |
See the full Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care's disclosed cost sits against the Professional Services category:
- Minimum startup cost of $39,250 — about 54% below the Professional Services median of $84,700.
- Initial franchise fee of $18,000 — about 55% below the Professional Services median of $39,700.
Category medians are computed from the Professional Services brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Professional Services franchises
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How Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2012–2017: began the window at 140 units; 25 units opened, 42 closed, ending at 119 units.
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care franchise
Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care is a professional services franchisor with 119 units at the end of 2017 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2012 and 2017, it began the window at 140 units; its filings record 25 unit openings and 42 closures, ending at 119 units. Its parent company is Sears Home & Business Franchises, Inc..
No franchise-related lawsuits reported in the disclosure data we hold (FDD Item 3, as of 2026-05) — an absence in our sources, not a guarantee; confirm against the brand's current FDD.
From the franchisor's materials
The franchise offered is to operate a service business that provides the cleaning of carpets, area rugs, upholstered furniture, and tile and grout, provides emergency water extraction and other related services, and sells spotting kits, grooming rakes and related products.
Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care franchise cost?
- $39,250 – $151,050 all-in to open, per Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care units are there?
- 119 units at the end of 2017 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Sears Carpet and Upholstery Care's units held up?
- 86.2% of units at risk between 2015 and 2017 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).