Underground One
Become a Franchisee
Underground Barbershop interior in Orlando, Florida

Underground One · Franchise Opportunity

Underground One

Own the next generation
of premium grooming
in the U.S.

A franchise investment opportunity in a proven premium brand — three formats from $220K, built for recurring family demand.

Become a FranchiseeExplore the Opportunity
  • Franchise Opportunity
  • Premium Brand
  • Proven Growth
2021
Founded in Orlando, FL
4.8★
730+ aggregated reviews
3
Investment formats
$220K+
Illustrative investment from

An actual Underground location, not a rendering.

The Opportunity

A Market Built For This Model

Personal care is resilient, growing and still dominated by independents — the exact conditions a premium branded franchise is built to capture.

$93B+
U.S. personal care & beauty market
+6%
Annual growth, premium segment
70%+
Customers who prefer branded experiences
FL #1
Fastest-growing personal care state

Where Underground Wins

Premium, family-oriented personal care — a segment dominated by independent professionals and undifferentiated chains.

Underground is built to capture the entire household with one consistent, certified experience across every service.

We don't compete on haircuts. We compete on lifestyle.

U.S. personal care market, projected size

US$ billions

Projection built from the published $93B U.S. personal care & beauty market and the +6% annual growth of the premium segment. Illustrative, for scale — not a forecast of unit performance.

Underground Barbershop service floor

Proof, Not Renderings

An operation already running.

Every format is built around what already exists on the floor: real chairs, real barbers, real Saturday-afternoon lines, in the U.S. market. The formats scale this room, not a concept of it.

5 years
In market since 2021
730+
Aggregated Google reviews
2+
Central Florida locations open today

The Story

One Chair In Orlando. Then A System To Repeat It.

Underground didn't start as a franchise concept on a slide. It started as a single barbershop in Orlando, Florida, opened by founder Maria Arlete Barros in 2021 — built around the kind of shop a barber is proud to work in and a family returns to every month.

What matters for an investor is what happened next. Instead of stopping at one great location, the founding team spent the following years building the infrastructure to repeat it before ever selling a franchise: a talent pipeline, an operating system, a proprietary product line and a second revenue category in Beauty. What is offered today is that system — not a first attempt at one.

Underground barber performing a straight-razor finish
  1. 2021

    The first chair

    Underground Barbershop LLC registered in Orlando, FL. One location, one standard.

  2. 2022

    A community forms

    Customers brought their families. The Kids experience turns single appointments into recurring family visits.

  3. 2022

    Underground Beauty launches

    A second revenue category built for the same household, at a higher ticket.

  4. 2024

    Recognised in Orlando

    A 4.8-star reputation across 730+ aggregated reviews in Central Florida.

  5. 2026

    The expansion era

    The system — brand, Academy, Trimfy and proprietary retail — opens as a franchise.

Sources: Florida Division of Corporations business filing; aggregated Google reviews via public listings.

The Ecosystem

A Premium Grooming & Lifestyle Ecosystem

Underground One is not a single service. It is a connected set of experiences under one brand, sharing the same customer relationship and reinforcing each other.

Underground Barbershop stations
Underground Barbershop

The core

The relationship engine.

Recurring haircuts, grooming rituals and membership, delivered in an environment designed to feel like a destination rather than an errand. Premium finishes, certified barbers, a consistent service protocol — the frequency layer the whole ecosystem is built on.

  • —Recurring, high-frequency service
  • —Certified barbers, one service standard
  • —Designed environment and premium positioning
  • —Membership and retention built into the model
Underground Kids Zone interior
Underground Kids Zone

The multiplier

The chair that turns one customer into a family.

Kids Zone is its own room inside the store — bright, playful, built around chairs and screens that make a haircut feel like an event. For a parent, that's the difference between dragging a child to the barbershop and the child asking to go.

A Kids-equipped location doesn't just add a service line: it turns a single appointment into a recurring family visit, and a family visit is structurally stickier than an individual one.

Current materials describe Kids as capable of multiplying household LTV 3–5x. Directionally credible, but pending cohort-level data.

How the ecosystem works

Underground One

One brand, one customer relationship

Barbershop

Barbershop

Frequency and the core relationship

Kids Zone

Kids Zone

Turns one customer into a family

Beauty

Beauty

Higher ticket, same household

Academy

Academy

Certified talent pipeline

Trimfy

Trimfy

Booking, CRM, payments, retention

  • Visit
  • Recurrence
  • Household
  • Higher ticket
  • Retention

Barbershop creates the frequency. Kids turns one customer into a household. Beauty raises the ticket. Academy, Trimfy and the retail line run underneath every unit.

Trimfy

The operating system for booking, CRM, payments and retention.

Academy

The certification pipeline that lets the standard scale with the network.

Absolutly

The proprietary retail line sold at the chair.

Why Underground One

Not A Barbershop. A Branded System.

What separates an Underground unit from an independent shop with good chairs.

01

Premium positioning

A premium identity already recognised in its market, not a generic sign above a door.

02

Customer experience

A designed environment and a service protocol customers can feel from the first visit.

03

Barbershop concept

A high-frequency service core with membership mechanics designed for retention.

04

Kids differentiation

A dedicated room that converts one appointment into a recurring family routine.

05

Brand & family ecosystem

The household, not the individual, is the customer — services, Kids and retail in the same four walls.

06

Scalable business model

A repeatable playbook and three formats sized for different sites, capital bases and ambitions.

Business Model

How A Unit Creates Value

One relationship, repeated — and widened.

01

Customer

A local household enters through the barbershop chair.

02

Experience

A designed, certified, premium visit — not a transaction.

03

Services

Grooming, Kids and retail attach to the same visit.

04

Recurrence

Frequency and membership turn the visit into a routine.

05

Revenue

Predictable system sales per chair, per month, per household.

  • More franchises
  • More system sales
  • More royalties
  • Stronger purchasing power
  • Better unit performance
  • More franchise demand

Franchise Formats

Three Ways To Build With Underground

Every format runs on the same brand, the same operating system and the same Academy standard — sized for a different site, capital base and ambition.

5%
Royalty on system sales
2%
Brand marketing fund
$35K–$50K
Franchise fee (final by format, per FDD)
30%+
Target cash-on-cash

01 · Neighborhood Entry

Compact

The proprietor's first chair.

$220K
Illustrative investment
Footprint900 sqft
Chairs8
Year 3 revenue$815K
Year 3 EBITDA margin24%
Year 3 EBITDA≈ $191K
Break-evenNot published yet
PaybackNot published yet

Revenue ramp (illustrative)

Year 1$361K
Year 2$590K
Year 3$815K

Best for

Owner-operators entering the brand for the first time. Lower capital, faster site approval, dense urban and suburban neighborhoods.

Included

Turnkey design & build package, Academy certification for opening staff, pre-opening marketing, Trimfy platform access.

Figures are illustrative and pending reconciliation with the FDD and audited unit financials.

Request this format

02 · Core Product

Standard

Built to be the network's backbone.

$370K
Illustrative investment
Footprint1,600 sqft
Chairs12
Year 3 revenue$1.22M
Year 3 EBITDA margin25%
Year 3 EBITDA≈ $306K
Break-evenNot published yet
PaybackNot published yet

Revenue ramp (illustrative)

Year 1~$553K*
Year 2$886K
Year 3$1.22M

Best for

Experienced single-unit operators ready for the brand's core format, with capacity to layer in Kids and a Beauty add-on as the market matures.

Included

Everything in Compact, plus expanded design flexibility, multi-chair Academy staffing plan and priority territory mapping.

*Year 1 reported in a $542K–$565K range in current materials, to be reconciled to a single number in the FDD.

Request this format

03 · Market Anchor

Flagship

The brand halo for strategic markets.

Barbershop & Beauty

May include Barbershop & Beauty — an expanded concept sized to host the full barbershop operation and an Underground Beauty area in the same location, where the market and the site allow it.

$570K
Illustrative investment
Footprint2,500 sqft
Chairs20
Year 3 revenue$2.04M
Year 3 EBITDA margin28%
Year 3 EBITDA≈ $578K
Break-evenNot published yet
PaybackNot published yet

Revenue ramp (illustrative)

Year 1$904K
Year 2$1.48M
Year 3$2.04M

Best for

Multi-unit and strategic market developers opening a market with a full-format store, with satellite Compacts to follow.

Included

Everything in Standard, plus flagship design tier, dedicated opening support and priority access to Beauty co-location planning.

Figures are illustrative and pending reconciliation with the FDD and audited unit financials.

Request this format

Financial Performance

What The Investment Builds Toward

Select a format to see its indicators. Figures reflect current franchise materials and remain illustrative pending FDD reconciliation.

$0K
Illustrative investment
$1.22M
Year 3 revenue
25%
Year 3 EBITDA margin
≈ $306K
Year 3 EBITDA
Not published yet
Break-even · Payback

Investment vs. Year 3 EBITDA

Initial investment against projected Year 3 EBITDA, by format, in US$ thousands.

Revenue ramp-up, Year 1–3

~$553K*$886K$1.22M

Path to maturity by format, in US$ thousands. Month-by-month operational break-even timing is not yet published and should follow real cohort data.

Request the business plan

Investment

What You Are Investing In

How the capital is composed, and what each layer buys.

Franchise fee

$35K–$50K

Final amount set by format, per the FDD. Grants brand, territory and system access.

Build-out & design

Turnkey

Design and build package delivered by the franchisor's turnkey program.

Total investment range

$220K – $570K

Illustrative, by format: Compact $220K, Standard $370K, Flagship $570K.

Royalty

5%

On system sales, ongoing.

Brand marketing fund

2%

On system sales, funds network-level brand building.

Target cash-on-cash

30%+

Target return referenced in current franchise materials.

Pending disclosure

  • Working capital requirement
  • Liquid capital / net worth minimums
  • Month-by-month break-even timing
  • Payback period by format

These figures are not published in current materials and will be confirmed in the Franchise Disclosure Document. We do not estimate them here.

Investor Fit

Is Underground One Right For You?

Underground is not built for everyone. It's built for operators — franchisees who can run a people-intensive, service-driven business with discipline, not passive capital.

Growth strategy follows the same logic: Underground favors density before dispersion. A strong cluster of units in one market outperforms scattered single stores on media, recruiting, supply and awareness.

This is for you if

  • You want to operate, not just invest — hands-on or through a GM you manage closely.
  • You have capital ready to deploy and a plan for how it's financed.
  • You run (or want to run) a people-intensive service business with real operating discipline.
  • You think in terms of markets and multiple units, not just one location.

This is not for you if

  • You're looking for a passive, hands-off investment with no operating involvement.
  • You don't have capital readiness appropriate to a target format.
  • You're not comfortable managing people in a service-delivery business.
  • You expect guaranteed results without engaging in the franchise development process.

Requirements to apply

Applicants should be prepared to demonstrate liquid capital appropriate to their target format, a plan for hands-on or management oversight, and alignment with Underground's premium service standard. Multi-unit and area development conversations require a demonstrated operating track record.

Franchise Fit

Franchise Fit Calculator

One form. A directional read on your fit — not an approval. Final fit is confirmed with our franchise development team during application review.

Find out if Underground One is the right franchise opportunity for you.

Tell us where you want to open, the capital you have available and how soon you intend to start. Our franchise development team reviews every submission.

  • Capital readiness matched to a format
  • Territory availability in your market
  • Operator profile, not passive capital
  • Realistic opening timeline

This result is directional and does not represent an approval, an offer or any guarantee of financial performance.

Ecosystem Expansion

Underground Beauty

Beyond Barbershop. There's Another Underground Opportunity.

A premium beauty concept designed to expand the Underground ecosystem into a higher-ticket personal care market — creating new opportunities for recurring revenue, household spending and customer lifetime value.

Premium beauty experience
Higher-ticket services
Recurring revenue
Household expansion
Ask about Underground BeautyInterested in the Beauty opportunity?

Part of the Underground One ecosystem

Governance

Growth Requires More Than Opportunity. It Requires Governance.

Underground One Group is building its growth on a structured corporate governance model in the United States, connecting strategic leadership, financial controls, accounting, performance management and accountability.

The approach is designed to establish clear responsibilities, decision-making processes, management oversight and periodic performance reviews — creating greater transparency and discipline as the ecosystem expands.

01Corporate governance structure
02Board and strategic advisory
03Independent board participation
04Financial reporting and accountability
05Professional accounting and financial controls
06Periodic performance and KPI reviews
07Defined roles, responsibilities and decision authority
08Holding and corporate structure
09Compliance and risk management
10Independent audit or financial review, where applicable

This describes the governance framework Underground One is organizing its growth around in the United States. Not every element is yet fully implemented; each is being formalized in phases as the ecosystem scales, and current status should be confirmed with management.

Leadership

Meet The Founders

Built by operators, not by a slide deck.

Maria Arlete Barros

Maria Arlete Barros

Founder & CEO

Founded Underground One in Orlando, Florida in 2021 and has spent more than five years personally building the ecosystem in the U.S. market — growing it from a single barbershop into a multi-location, multi-brand operation spanning Barbershop, Kids, Beauty and Academy.

She brings a background in planning and management to the company's operations and remains the registered founding manager of Underground Barbershop LLC. Under her leadership the network's flagship locations built a 4.8-star reputation across 730+ aggregated reviews.

View LinkedIn
João Coral

João Coral

Founder / Advisor

Brings senior executive experience to the management and governance discipline behind the brand's growth. His focus is the reporting, financial controls and operating structure that let a single-location idea scale into a repeatable, multi-brand system.

He works alongside Maria to turn the day-to-day judgment calls of running a people-intensive business into the consistent, auditable process a franchise network depends on to protect every operator's investment.

View LinkedIn

Next Step

Ready To Build Your Underground One?

Territory conversations are open for the U.S. market. Start with a five-minute profile — our franchise development team takes it from there.

Start your franchise application

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franchise@underground-one.com · (407) 286-4555 · Orlando, Florida