The Learning Experience Adding Three New Locations in Metro Detroit

Daycare franchise operator The Learning Experience, based in Deerfield Beach, Fla., will be expanding in metro Detroit with four new locations over the next two years – adding to the seven already operating in the region.
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Learning Experience employee
The Learning Experience will open four new locations in metro Detroit by the end of 2025. // Photo courtesy of The Learning Experience

Daycare franchise operator The Learning Experience, based in Deerfield Beach, Fla., will be expanding in metro Detroit with three new locations over the next two years – adding to the seven already operating in the region.

Each will be a newly constructed 10,000-square-foot, free-standing building with a 5,000-square-foot playground. Construction of new centers will create opportunities for contractors and vendors, as a new facility costs $3.2 million to $3.5 million to build, on average.

Each new center also will employ as many as 30 staff members and certified teachers to serve upwards of 180 children from 6 weeks old to 6 years with daycare, enrichment programs, and early childhood education.

The Learning Experience plans to open the first of its new locations at 1725 North Wixom Road in Wixom this summer. The second location is planned for Ann Arbor, opening in the third quarter of 2025. The third location is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2025, in Canton Township.

When identifying potential sites and markets for expansion, The Learning Experience’s real estate team analyzes several factors, including daytime population of the surrounding area; traffic patterns; population of children ages 6 and under in a one-, three- and five-mile radius; and average household incomes within those same areas.

The company says it pursues growth in new markets by establishing both franchise and corporate owned sites in each major metro market. Once it identifies a market, it then establishes franchised sites in the surrounding suburban areas. Franchisees sign 15-year agreements with the company.

The Learning Experience recently was recognized as the top-ranked childcare franchise and No. 32 overall in Entrepreneur magazine’s 2024 ranking of the world’s top 500 franchises. The company has opened more than 80 centers over the past two years and now has more than 370 in 29 states, as well as two locations in the U.K. It plans to add more than 100 new locations over the next two years.