The Rock Underground

The vendor opportunity at The Rock Underground

The Rock Underground operates an education franchise system headquartered in New York. According to the 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the system consists of 6 total units—4 franchised and 2 company-owned. Year-over-year unit growth stands at 33.3%, indicating recent expansion from a very small base. For software vendors, the immediate addressable market is limited to these 6 locations, all of which are concentrated in New York state. The operator footprint shows 3 mapped operators, none of whom are multi-unit operators, with all located units falling into the 1-to-3-unit band. This is a compact, centralized system where a single sale to the franchisor could cover the entire network.

No average unit volume (AUV) is disclosed in the FDD. The royalty rate is 6.0% of gross revenue. The initial franchise term length is not disclosed. Vendors should approach this account with the understanding that the total contract value will be modest given the unit count, but the centralized decision-making may shorten sales cycles.

Who controls software purchasing

Software purchasing authority at The Rock Underground sits with the corporate leadership. The FDD lists two executive officers: Steve Eplan, who serves as Chief Executive Officer and Vice President, and Edward Shoulson, who serves as Chief Financial Officer and President. With no additional executives on file and no parent company, these two individuals constitute the entire known buying center. A vendor pitching any operational, financial, or educational technology should expect to engage directly with Eplan and Shoulson. There is no indication of a separate IT or procurement function, which is consistent with a system of this size.

Mandated and current tech stack

The 2025 FDD does not disclose any mandated or recommended technology systems. No point-of-sale vendor, learning management system, scheduling platform, or other operational tool is named in the document. This absence of a mandated tech stack means the franchisor either does not require franchisees to use specific systems or has not chosen to disclose those requirements in the FDD. For a vendor, this represents either a blank-slate opportunity or a need to uncover the incumbent tools during the discovery process. Do not assume the absence of a mandate means the absence of a tool; the existing 6 units are almost certainly running on something.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

The procurement model at The Rock Underground is not described in the available FDD extracts. Item 8, which typically details whether the franchisor designates approved suppliers or requires franchisees to purchase from specific sources, did not yield any information. Similarly, Item 17, which covers renewal, termination, and transfer terms, provided no extract. Without these data points, vendors cannot determine whether the franchisor exerts tight control over vendor selection or leaves it to individual franchisees. The initial term length is also not disclosed, so there is no contractual renewal window to target. Given the system's small size and recent growth, the leadership team is likely accessible, but vendors should not count on a predictable procurement calendar.

How to read the The Rock Underground FDD

The full 2025 FDD is embedded below for your own analysis. This document is the primary legal disclosure that The Rock Underground provides to prospective franchisees and is filed with state franchise regulators. When reviewing it, focus on Item 11 (the franchisor's obligations) for any technology or support commitments, Item 8 for procurement restrictions, and Item 19 for financial performance representations, though note that AUV is not disclosed in the summary data. The executive team listed in Item 1 is your target buying group. For a ranked target list of franchise systems that match your software category, reach out to FranCloud.