Franchise Facts Report → brands → Gymboree Play & Music Center
Gymboree Play & Music Center franchise — is it worth it?
High risk Shrinking network Item 19 disclosed
Gymboree Play & Music Center offers a child services and education franchise with an initial investment ranging from $56,250 to $95,800.
Everything below is free, read straight off Gymboree Play & Music Center's registered filing, with where the numbers land against child services & education peers. Weighing Gymboree Play & Music Center against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in Gymboree Play & Music Center's most recent FDD (registered 2025). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-33601 — check it yourself. See every other California-registered franchise.
Considering Gymboree Play & Music Center? See what else fits your budget
Tell us your budget and the industries you're open to. We'll match you with 5–10 franchises whose own FDDs fit — ranked by earnings disclosure, growth and closure rate — and email you the list. Gymboree Play & Music Center will be on it if it fits.
How much does a Gymboree Play & Music Center franchise make?
Gymboree Play & Music Center is one of the franchisors that answers this on the record: its most recent FDD makes an Item 19 financial performance representation — actual unit earnings figures, disclosed by the franchisor itself. The headline figure did not machine-read cleanly from this filing, so we don't print one; Item 19 of the source FDD has the tables. See every child services & education brand that discloses earnings in the Child care & education franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.
Gymboree Play & Music Center franchise profit vs. revenue
Revenue is not profit. An Item 19 almost always reports sales — what a location takes in — not what an owner keeps. Out of that number come Gymboree Play & Music Center's 6% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a Gymboree Play & Music Center franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "Gymboree Play & Music Center franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure.
Gymboree Play & Music Center lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
Gymboree Play & Music Center's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025) does disclose 3 legal proceedings in Item 3 . Item 3 is the item where a franchisor must put its material legal history on the record. Two things it is not: it covers the franchisor and its predecessors, parents and affiliates, so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against Gymboree Play & Music Center itself; and a disclosure is a fact, not a finding of wrongdoing — most entries are contract disputes with former franchisees, which every large system accumulates. 3 of those proceedings were brought by franchisees against the franchisor — the split that actually matters, because franchisees suing their franchisor is the signal a buyer is looking for. Item 3 of the source FDD describes each case.
Gymboree Play & Music Center closures & failure rate
Before you sign, Gymboree Play & Music Center will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what Gymboree Play & Music Center's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a child services & education of this kind.
The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. Gymboree Play & Music Center's latest tables show a shrinking franchised network — more units left than opened. Its franchised-outlet closure rate — closures, terminations and non-renewals against outlets — is 4.9%, against a child services & education median of 2.5% — worse than the category. Net franchised outlets moved -1 to 40 in the latest reported year.
Who owns Gymboree Play & Music Center?
Gymboree Play & Music Center's franchise is offered by GPPI, Inc. — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2025), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at CA DFPI; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.
Child services & education franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing Gymboree Play & Music Center is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.
Gymboree Play & Music Center franchise — frequently asked
Who owns Gymboree Play & Music Center — who is the franchisor?
Gymboree Play & Music Center's most recently filed FDD (2025) names GPPI, Inc. as the franchisor — the entity you would actually sign the franchise agreement with, as stated on the disclosure document itself. A registry filing names the franchisor, not necessarily its ultimate parent company.
How much does a Gymboree Play & Music Center franchise cost?
Gymboree Play & Music Center's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $56,250 – $95,800, with an initial franchise fee of $45,000 and a 6% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. Against child services & education peers it sits in the top quartile (median $134,630).
How much profit does a Gymboree Play & Music Center franchise make?
Gymboree Play & Music Center discloses unit earnings in Item 19, but that figure is revenue — sales — not profit. Royalties (6% of gross for Gymboree Play & Music Center), the ad fund, rent, payroll and supplies all come out of it, and no FDD discloses what an owner nets. Any Gymboree Play & Music Center franchise profit number quoted elsewhere is an estimate.
Does Gymboree Play & Music Center disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
Yes — Gymboree Play & Music Center reports unit-level earnings in Item 19. The headline figure did not machine-read cleanly, so check Item 19 of the source FDD for the numbers.
Are there lawsuits against Gymboree Play & Music Center?
Gymboree Play & Music Center's most recently filed FDD (2025) discloses 3 legal proceedings in Item 3. Item 3 covers the franchisor, its predecessors, parents and affiliates — so a disclosed case is not necessarily a suit against Gymboree Play & Music Center itself, and a disclosure is not a finding of wrongdoing. 3 of the disclosed proceedings were brought by franchisees against the franchisor.
Is Gymboree Play & Music Center a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from Gymboree Play & Music Center's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against child services & education peers and against your own budget. Our read on this filing is high risk. Every figure behind that read is on this page for free. If you're comparing options, the free shortlist on this page matches you with 5–10 franchises that fit your budget and industry.
Get a free email when something changes on Gymboree Play & Music Center or child services & education: a new FDD registration, a new lawsuit, an outlet count that shifts, or Item 19 earnings going from undisclosed to disclosed. Pulled straight from the same state registries this page is built on.