Having your hair cut? It probably grew longer than usual during the pandemic lockdown, and plenty of us are antsy about finally getting a real pro to deal with all that hair. And for that, many people look to Great Clips.
This brand is like the McDonald’s of the hair salon industry. Like the fast-food giant, they have franchises with locations spread all over the country. These hair salons offer simpler services and establishments, just as fast-food joints are basic compared to fine dining restaurants.
But then again, these fine dining restaurants may be trendy one day, and then out of favor the next. With Great Clips, you get the basic equivalent of fast-food fare: excellent yet no-frills service at affordable prices.
Here are some facts you may not know about Great Clips.
It’s Astounding Growth
The first Great Clips salon was launched way back in 1982. It quickly became popular, so much so that the founders immediately opened 3 salons in 3 months. All these 3 salons were well-received, and the founders realized that they had an opportunity for growth, and used the franchise system like so many fast-food brands.
- They opened their first franchised salon in 1983.
- By 1988, the number grew to 150 franchised salons.
- By 1997, this increased to 1,000 salons.
- By 2006, this became 2,500 salons.
- By 2011, there were 3,000 salons.
Today, Great Clips has more than 4,400 hair salons spread all over the US and Canada. It is the largest hair salon brand in the entire world. It also employs almost 40,000 stylists in at least 180 cities and towns.
Customer Profile
Great Clips serves the needs of just about everyone. Most of the customers are adult males, but they can also attend to the needs of women as long as these needs are simpler. The stylists know how to handle children, and senior citizens enjoy a $2 discount. That’s not as small as you might think, considering that the average haircut price is about $15.
The brand does a lot of business, with about 2 million customers getting haircuts each week. It does help that their hair salons are open 7 days a week. These include night-time hours and weekends too.
Great Clips has an extremely accurate customer profile towards whom they’ve customized their services.
- These customers want a convenient location that’s either near their home or office (or school).
- They also want convenient hours, since not everyone can get a haircut during weekday business hours.
- They don’t want to bother with appointments, which is why people can just get to the salon at any time and get a haircut after a short wait.
- They don’t care for higher prices, so they don’t mind the limited range of services. Great Clips doesn’t offer hair color treatments, and only some of their salons offer perms.
Hair Styling Services
As this is a no-frills salon, you can’t expect the stylists to offer a wide range of sophisticated hairstyling services. Instead, you can expect simpler styling and trim options.
- If you’re a guy with short hair, you can go with a simple crewcut, undercut, or fade.
- For women with short hair, the basic options are either a pixie cut or a bob.
- The stylists have also been trained to deal with long hair. They can do layers and bangs.
- If you’re going to a formal event, then you can get the appropriate haircut that matches the occasion.
- You may also get a perm that puts some curls and waves to your hair—if the Great Clips salon near you offers this chemical treatment. Not all the salons offer this treatment.
- When you’re getting a haircut, the stylist will also deal with the excess hair around the neck area.
- In between hair appointments, you may notice that your bangs are getting too long. You can just come in for a quick touchup for the bangs.
- For guys with beards, come in and get a quick trim for the beard to keep it looking neat. This is great when you’re going on a date or a job interview.
- Shampoo service is also part of the menu.
Convenient Tech
While Great Clips do try to maintain its no-frills image, that doesn’t mean that they’ve ignored the obvious benefits of modern technology. They’ve done this with their Online Check-in service, which started way back in 2011.
This was the real-time check-in application that was the first of its kind in the hair salon industry. Customers can either use this service on the Great Clips website, or download the app. This service lets customers check current wait times, and it also lets them add their names to the wait list. The app has been downloaded 3 million times.
Stylists here also use their Clip Notes technology. This lets the stylist take notes regarding your haircut. They take notes on:
- Type of haircut
- Shape and style
- Desired hair length
- Sideburns
- Textures
The stylist can then give you the same haircut if you absolutely loved it (or make a few changes if you want). and you don’t have to rely on that particular stylist from before, as the new stylist will know what to do!