Scott Marr’s WALLABY WINDOWS Franchise: What Happened?
The Wallaby Windows franchise was founded by Scott Marr, husband of franchise attorney & Congressional hopeful Keith Gross (Keithly Gross). Scott Marr sold Wallaby Windows & Koala Insulation to Empower Brands for an undisclosed sum. Of the 18 Wallaby Windows franchises disclosed in the 2024 Wallaby Windows FDD, only four (22%) are listed as still active. What happened? Are these franchisees free to share their experiences? by Sean Kelly, founder, Truth for Veterans, Truth for All
Scott Marr is founder of franchise concepts Fleet Clean, Koala Insulation, and Wallaby Windows.
For years, he has worked closely on business and legal matters with his husband and corporate attorney, Keith Gross aka Keithly Gross.
Keith Gross is running for Congress in Florida’s second district; His campaign headquarters shares the same Panama City, FL office address as his law firm, Gross Law Group and Marr’s Franchise Altitude franchise development company.
Through Franchise Altitude, Scott Marr provides guidance and funding to franchise start-ups, including DonutNV, Cabinet IQ, and RealClean Aircraft Detailing.
Scott Marr Aggressively Promotes “Semi-Absentee” Franchise Investments for Quick Growth
Scott Marr’s strategy appears to be aggressive promotion of start-up franchise opportunities through established franchise broker networks and franchise sales organizations (FSOs), namely Franchise Fastlane.
The goal appears to be to grow a franchise chain quickly then sell to a private equity-backed franchise company, as he did when he sold Koala Insulation and Wallaby Windows to Empower Brands.
Scott Marr’s strategy of promoting franchise opportunities as “semi-absentee” (ie requiring minimal time of 5-10 hours per week from the franchisee) is the subject of heated controversy, as evidenced in a franchisor Koala Insulation franchisor lawsuit against a franchisee, a DonutNV defamation lawsuit against the publisher of UnhappyFranchise.com, and arbitration complaints by a coalition of DonutNV franchisees.
The alleged “semi-absentee” misrepresentation is significant, as franchisees claim they invested in franchises based on assurances that they were profitable enough and had low enough management requirements that they could maintain full-time jobs while running the franchise.
Some franchisees have claimed that the “semi-absentee” claim is a fraudulent inducement that cost them their life savings.
Scott Marr’s Wallaby Windows is Touted a Franchise Success Story
The Wallaby Windows franchise is touted as a success story by Scott Marr and Franchise Altitude, Marr’s franchise development services and venture capital provider.
The Franchise Altitude website states that “The Wallaby Windows franchise model was designed with the semi-absentee franchise owner in mind.”
It claims the franchisor has a “track record of exponential franchise growth,” and that “Wallaby Windows developed a business model that is designed to work in any market or geography.”
According to the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), dated January 26, 2024, Wallaby Windows had 0 franchises in 2022.
2024 Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)
In 2023, the Wallaby Windows sales team (see below) sold 50+ franchise territories to 18 franchisees.
We wondered: How did they fare?
Only 4 of 18 Original Wallaby Windows Franchises Appear to Still Be Operating
We cross-checked the franchise locations from the 2024 FDD with the location list on the current Wallaby Windows website.
We could only find four of the 18 original locations (Cary, NC, Milford, OH, Franklin, TN, Richardson, TX) still listed as open and operating.
If correct, that’s a premature exit rate of 78%
What happened?
Did these franchisees lose their $158,606 to $241,690 investments? Or more?
Did they find the “Semi-Absentee” characterization of the business accurate?
Are the Wallaby Windows franchisees, recruited by franchise brokers and Franchise Fastlane and signed up by Scott Marr free to share their experiences and opinions?
Wallaby Windows Franchises No Longer Operating (14 of 18)
Connecticut
X CT West Hartford 1 Jason William Ptak & Kelly Rebecca Ptak 118 Keeney Avenue West Hartford CT 06107 (206) 618-2228 [Birds of a Feather Corp Dissolved 2025]
Florida
X Sold FL Jacksonville FL 2 Mario Nicoletti 4397 Pebble Brook Drive Jacksonville FL 32224
Nebraska
X NE Elkhorn 4 Gene Chevalier & Dustin Pfeifer 4802 South 235th Street Elkhorn NE 68022
X NE Omaha 2 Stephani Jackson & Darren Jackson 19707 Hansen Ave Omaha NE 68130North Carolina
X NC Huntersville NC 3 Abigail Calhoun & Joey Fennig 9929 Sky Vista Drive Huntersville NC 28078 (Corp active not current)
X NC Weddington 6 Zachary Allan Siebert 3008 Ashford Glen Drive Weddington NC 28104 (Corp Active)
Ohio
X OH Westerville (Columbus) 7 Aaron Knepp & Lee Knepp 7607 Wild Mint Court Westerville OH 43082Pennsylvania
X PA McDonald 3 David Perlmutter & Amy Perlmutter 203 Dupont Drive McDonald PA
South Carolina
X SC Longs SC 2 Henry David Beckham, Jr. & Kirstie Dalton 100 Nunn Court Longs SC 29568
Tennessee
X TN Athens 3 Glenn Douglas Jackson 764 County Road 187 Athens TN 37303
Texas
X TX Amarillo 1 Travis Lawler and Nicholas Ward PO Box 50845 Amarillo TX 79159
X TX Austin 4 Sean and Kristen Clifford 5900 Balcones Drive, Suite 100 Austin TX 78731
X TX McKinney 3 David Paul Deslatte 2608 Tremont Boulevard McKinney TX 75071
X TX Tomball TX 2 Brian Keith Sizemore 9107 Kinnel Lane Tomball TX 77375
Initial Wallaby Windows Franchise Sales Team (from 2024 FDD)
The Wallaby Windows 2024 FDD discloses their franchise sales team as of that date:
- Wallaby Windows/Empower Brands
- Scott Marr , Melbourne, FL 32904
- Corey Schroeder Glen Allen, VA 23060 804-353-6999
- R. Scott Sutton Glen Allen, VA 23060 804-353-6999
- Megan Taylor Glen Allen, VA 23060 804-353-6999
- Thomas Welter Glen Allen, VA 23060 804-353-6999
- Scott Zide Glen Allen, VA 23060 804-353-6999
- Franchise Fastlane
- Amie Hawk Omaha, NE
- Patrick Sanchez Omaha, NE
- Ben Rickord Omaha, NE
Related Reading:
EMPOWER Brands Semi-Absentee Franchise Claims – Discussion Invited
EMPOWER BRANDS Exits Franchise Fastlane. Will They Exit the “Semi-Absentee Franchise” Pitch as Well?
Are you familiar with the Wallaby Windows franchise opportunity?
Are you familiar with Scott Marr? Please leave a comment below or email us, in confidence, at UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail[dot]com.
Are you familiar with Congressional Candidate Keith Gross & Gross Law Group P.A., Panama City Beach, Florida?
Invitation: All individuals, corporations and firms discussed here are invited to submit corrections, clarifications, rebuttals, statements, opinions or other expressions of belief for immediate and rspectful consideration. This is an open forum and all genuine and constructive opinions are welcome. You may share your opinions in the comment section of any page, or submit a mesage in confidence to UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail[dot]com. a comment on any page
Franchisors: The franchisor, its employees and agents are invited to submit correction, clarifications, rebuttals or other opinions for immediate consideration.
Media Contacts: Sean Kelly is available for media interviews, podcast appearances and to provide more information and documentation on the DonutNV franchise story. Also available are Mr. Kelly’s legal counsel J. Chadwick Schnee, Schnee Legal
UnhappyFranchisee.com is not associated with this or other franchise company or seller.
Tags: Scott Marr, Franchise Altitude, Semi-absentee franchises, Wallaby Windows, Wallaby Windows franchise, Empower Brands, Koala Insulation franchise, The DonutNV Report, DonutNV, Franchise Fastlane, Gross Law Group, Keith Gross, Keithly Gross, Travis Tarpeh, Jaryeneh Travis Tarpeh, Keith Gross for Congress, Keith Gross campaign finance, Scott Zide , Ben rickord, Amie Hawk, Sean Kelly, Unhappy Franchisee, UnhappyFranchisee.Com, SLAPP, Veterans in Franchising
