At times, there is no availability in the preferred market for some potential
Sport Clips Haircuts franchise candidates. Careful thought and consideration
go into determining when and where to grow the brand, along with a strategy
focused on
responsible and sustainable growth. Priority is given to existing team leader expansion to ensure the brand
never out paces its support structure. Sport Clips’
high continuity rate and model scalability are hallmarks of a successful franchise system.
From the brand’s inception in 1993, growth has been slow and purposeful.
At first expansion was confined to Houston, Dallas and Austin. The model
was tested and finetuned, and then the brand expand to only a handful
of markets. Those first markets were selected because they were in areas
where Southwest Airlines flew, allowing the brand to keep travel expenses
low and to focus resources on what mattered most:
supporting team leaders. Today Sport Clips has a presence in all 50 states and in Canada, but
with close to 1,800 stores they still approach growth in the same, responsible way.
So why does Sport Clips close a market? Careful market calculations go
into this decision. First, a conservative estimate of how many licenses
to award to a given market is determined based on an intensive market
analysis. Once all those licenses are awarded, the market is then closed
to new team leaders, allowing existing team leaders to fill in the gaps.
Thus, a pulsing strategy is created: underselling a market, then closing
it to let real estate catch up.
“Having a well-defined growth strategy allows Sport Clips to properly
balance team leader demand and real estate opportunities,” explains
Greg Smith, chief development officer for Sport Clips. “By leveraging
communication between franchising, real estate and operations, we can
quickly determine we if we have a comfortable equilibrium or if immediate
action is required. Smart, strategic growth is our number one priority.”
Pulsing development gives priority to existing team leader expansion, without
creating competition between team leaders. This scaling is why Sport Clips
has such rigorous franchisee selection criteria. Team leader success is
Sport Clips’ ultimate goal.
After a market has had time to fill in, Sport Clips will review market
optimization criteria and determine whether the market should be reopened.
Just because a market is closed today does not mean it won’t reopen
in the future.
Recently, the California, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, and Northeast
markets have been reopened, presenting tremendous opportunities for expansion.
Sport Clips’ responsible approach to growth is the reason it has
been able to create such solid systems and brand infrastructure. Sustainable
growth is more important than rapid growth. Scalability and support for
team leader success has been at the forefront of Sport Clips’ strategy
from the beginning and will continue to be.
For more information on the Sport Clips offering,
click here.
