Great Clips Franchise
Great Clips is a franchise of walk-in salons offering haircuts, styling and products that also makes it easy for owners who want to open multiple locations.
$75,000
$20,000
4,280
1983
Minneapolis,MN
Stephen K. Hockett
About Great Clips
Great Clips is a chain of retail walk-in salons offering haircuts, hair styling and hair care products that operates in the United States and Canada. Most locations are in shopping centers, but some units in heavily populated areas are freestanding. There are also opportunities for nontraditional locations.
Each salon owner (franchisee) determines the prices of services, which include haircuts, shampoos, blow dries, French braids, updos and even perms at select locations. However, hair coloring is not available. Great Clips takes a family-friendly approach, saying that its services are affordable and available for the entire family.
The products sold at Great Clips include shampoos, conditioners, leave-in conditioners, molding paste and fiber cream. The products are for men, women and children. Franchisees must carry these products and purchase them from specific suppliers and distributors.
Franchise Unit Trends & Revenue
4,280
113
$399,179
* in 2024
Franchise Fees
$20,000
Veteran's Fee: $15,000
6.0%
Gross Sales
5.0%
Gross Sales
Why Choose Great Clips?
Great Clips is the largest hair salon franchise in the world and has good name recognition. Since there are no corporate-owned stores, franchisees receive all of corporate’s support and resources. The company has kept pace with technology, using avenues such as online check-in to keep delivering on its promises of convenience and value. Its haircuts are affordable, and many franchisees own more than one salon.
In fact, franchisees who have been with Great Clips for at least five years own an average of 6.5 salons. Great Clips is a potentially lucrative path for business owners who want multiple locations. For example, the Three Star Program gives franchisees financial incentives to open multiple units, and it streamlines the process.
Starting Costs & Investment Requirements
$136,900 - $259,400
$300,000
$75,000
Training & Support
Great Clips University, plus various company-provided training programs exist to ensure franchisees and their staff have the training required for success.
History
Great Clips began in Minneapolis across from the University of Minnesota campus. The year was 1982, and two men, David Rubenzer and Steve Lemmon, identified the need for a hair salon that offered both value and convenience for busy lifestyles. They came up with a walk-in salon featuring evening and weekend hours as well as weekday hours. It was a unique concept and quickly caught on. Franchising began in 1983, and Ray Barton joined Rubenzer and Lemmon as Great Clip’s leaders.
In 1988, Great Clips had 150 salons and 1,000 in 1997. Now it has more than 4,400. The current CEO is Steve Hockett. He started as a franchisee with Great Clips in 1988 and was hired by corporate in 1993 to work in marketing.
Ideal Candidate
Good news—you do not need to know how to cut hair. A huge majority, about 95%, of Great Clips franchisees didn’t know how to cut hair when they joined. Many have become very successful despite never learning. Your path to success depends on your leadership skills, sales volume and number of salons opened.
As CEO Steve Hockett explains, Great Clips is a volume business. The corporation looks for franchisees capable of getting customers to return time and time again.
The ideal candidate is able to focus on the Great Clips business full time or have a job that allows him or her the flexibility to focus sufficiently on the business. Franchisee candidates must have a credit score of 675 and have their primary residence in the market where they want to open their salon.
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