Business Opportunities Weblog

May 3, 2006 by Dane Carlson | 1 Comment

Startup Journal:

The barbershop business has staged a steady, if unspectacular, comeback since hitting bottom in the late 1980s. Now, Joe Grondin is trying to jump-start the business by franchising the traditional corner barbershop.

Mr. Grondin, 56 years old, opened his first Roosters barbershop in 1999, and began franchising the brand in 2002. There are now 14 Roosters barbershops open, eight more under construction and 20 under contract to be built.

But the question remains: Can the traditional neighborhood style be preserved in a franchise setting?

After all, the basic idea of a franchise is to standardize a successful business model and replicate it across geographical boundaries, allowing the brand to proliferate while keeping costs down for the franchisee. But the success of a barbershop has depended to a great degree on the barbers as individuals — not just their skills, but their personalities. Men traditionally have gone to barbershops as much for the comfortable camaraderie as for a haircut or shave. Can that personal touch work within the standardization of a franchise?

Mr. Grondin is convinced that it can. “Men like the concept,” he says. “They’ve gotten real tired of going to their wife’s beauty shop. And the wives were tired of having them there.”

Photo by Old Sarge.

In Franchising, Ideas | 1 Comment