The headline number — 90.9% weighted gross margin
Window tint shop gross profit — Polar Tint’s 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document (Item 19) reports a 90.9% weighted gross profit margin across its two affiliate shops in Las Vegas for fiscal year 2025. Combined gross sales were the figure disclosed in the current FDD against combined cost of goods sold of the figure disclosed in the current FDD. The figure is striking because it sits on the high end of what’s publicly disclosed for any service business in the United States.
How that compares to the industry
Industry-wide, independent window tint shops typically run 60–75% gross margins. The gap between that range and the figure is almost entirely driven by film procurement cost. Most independents buy film through regional distributors who add 25–40% markup over manufacturer-direct pricing. A shop with parent-supplier wholesale economics — like a Polar Tint franchisee buying from Glacier Manufacturing — pays manufacturer-direct cost.
Ceramic coating and paint protection film carry slightly different margin profiles. Ceramic typically runs 80–gross margin (chemistry is cheap but precise; labor is the bigger variable cost). PPF runs 65–gross margin (film material is more expensive per square foot than window film). When all three services blend in a single shop, weighted gross margin tends to land between 80% and 92% depending on the product mix.
Why this matters for unit economics
Gross margin determines how much each dollar of revenue is available to cover everything below gross — labor, rent, utilities, marketing, debt service, owner draw. A shop with gross margin needs $111 of revenue to net $100 toward operating costs. A shop with gross margin needs $154 of revenue for the same $100. That difference compounds — particularly when industries have similar customer-acquisition costs and similar physical-shop overhead.
For franchise prospects evaluating window tint, the right question isn’t ‘what is the gross margin’ in isolation. It’s ‘what is the gross margin AND what supply chain produces it’. A industry-leading gross margin disclosed in the current FDD Item 19 disclosed in an Item 19 by a franchisor with parent-supplier economics is structurally durable. A claimed margin without an integrated supplier relationship is harder to replicate post-honeymoon.