Skiptown's first franchise owners signed a lease for their debut Pineville location, testing whether the concept scales beyond company-run stores.
Skiptown's first franchise owners have signed a lease for their debut location, moving the dog care brand's inaugural development deal from paper to real estate. Chris Tkatch and Bo Fender, the Charlotte-based pair awarded two territories earlier this year, locked in a space at 10301 Feldfarm Lane in the city's Pineville area, with an opening targeted for early 2027. It is the first location to open under a franchise model that, until now, has only existed as three corporate-run stores in Charlotte, Denver and Atlanta.
Franchise deals often stall between signing an agreement and signing a lease, the point where financing, site selection and construction bids either come together or fall apart. Skiptown closing that gap on its very first franchisee group gives the brand a real proof point to show the next wave of prospective owners, rather than just a signed contract sitting in a drawer.
Tkatch and Fender came to Skiptown as members before they became franchisees, a pattern the brand is leaning on as it recruits. Tkatch built his first business as a landscaper at age twelve and later earned an MBA and a Master of Finance, while Fender spent more than a decade as a civil engineer and senior estimator in structural steel, backgrounds Skiptown says translate directly into running a service business.
The deal follows a strong stretch for the three-year-old brand, which reported 23% year-over-year revenue growth in the second quarter of 2026 and a membership base that has grown past 8,000 across its three corporate locations. Converting loyal members into franchise owners lowers execution risk for a young franchisor, since the new operators already understand the product before they sign anything.
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