Are Franchised Hair Salons Keeping Up Appearances?

MINNEAPOLIS (Wednesday, November 01, 2000) - In recent years, franchises like Fantastic Sams, Great Clips, and Super Cuts, along with company-owned mainstay Hair Cuttery, have certainly kept up appearances-and even extended their brand recognition-but actual growth in the number of franchised units for these concepts seems to have leveled. Between 1994 and 1999, the latest years for which information was available, the total number of beauty salon franchise units has risen only an estimated 1.1 percent.

Specifically, Fantastic Sams, Super Cuts, and We Care Hair, have leveled their unit volume, while some cosmetic franchises have witnessed a steady decline. One notable exception is Great Clips. The franchise system has been expanding its units at a rate of 30 percent a year to more than 1,322 salons, up from 480 in 1994.

Great Clips attributes this success to its market-specific development and its focus on efficient business operations in each shop. Charles Simpson, vice president of franchise development for Great Clips, Inc., said in a statement that each potential market is evaluated based on real estate, demand for franchises, level of competition, and marketing costs. Once a market is selected, all efforts are focused on that single area, he said.

However, the key benefits of these establishments may have a flip side that could shed some light on this current plateau. The ease and convenience these hair salons offer - walk-in service; low, pre-set prices; and a familiar atmosphere - may not attract clients with increasingly expanding desires and expectations from the evolving salon experience. Independent, high-end salons seem to have an endless capacity for dreaming up novel ways to pamper their clientele. If aromatherapy, massage, acupuncture, seaweed wraps, mud baths and the like don't actually make anyone look better in the long run, clients don't seem to mind.

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