The southeast region of the United States is not only home to Pigtails & Crewcuts headquarters, it’s also home to millions of families — and growing.
There are more than 61.8 million people currently living in the region, with a growth rate that would exceed any of the top five largest countries in the world.
Although we offer franchises across the country, we are targeting markets in Georgia and the broader southeast region for expansion.
The area’s strong demand and economic growth, coupled with our concept’s proven success in the region, make it the perfect place to continue expanding our footprint.
Source: Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce
Here’s more on why Pigtails & Crewcuts is an ideal concept for the southeast region, and how our target market strategy sets up franchisees for success:
Growing Our Footprint Near Our Atlanta Roots
Our footprint currently spans 65 salons and 24 states, including two locations that just opened last month in the Buford, GA area at the Mall of Georgia, and in Lake Nona, Florida. We also expect to open a total of 15 additional units by the end of 2020, with goals of hitting 100 salons opened by 2021.
Some of our targeted areas in the southeast include:
- Johns Creek, Cumming, Macon, Augusta, and Athens, Georgia
- Tampa and Jacksonville, Florida
- Charleston, South Carolina
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Lexington, Kentucky
These areas not only feature strong demographics and market demand for Pigtails & Crewcuts, but our concept has also proven successful in similar, nearby markets.
For instance, Florida-based multi-unit owner Jennifer Tribble was introduced to the concept after a friend called her and mentioned a two-hour-long wait for the Marietta, GA-based Pigtails & Crewcuts franchise.
“The opportunity ticked all the boxes I wanted, and it was also a new, niche idea and concept that could really serve the community,” Jennifer said.
After the success of her first location, Jennifer expanded to open two more Pigtails & Crewcuts franchises in the Orlando area and continues to take the market by storm. In fact, one of her salons is in the top three highest-performing Pigtails & Crewcuts franchise locations in the country.
Bobbei Ruswinckel is another franchisee who realized substantial untapped demand for a specialized children’s hair salon franchise in her South Carolina community.
“We need [Pigtails & Crewcuts] in Myrtle Beach — if anybody’s going to do this, we need to be the ones,” Bobbei remembers thinking. “I’ve had so many people come to us and say, ‘I can’t believe it’s taken somebody so long to do this here.’”
Area Representative Andrew McGehee has also seen incredible success for his Pigtails & Crewcuts franchises in the southeast region as well.
After driving two hours roundtrip to get his young sons’ hair cut at a Pigtails & Crewcuts in Roswell, GA, Andrew soon realized the strong potential for the concept in his local community. He opened the doors to his first Pigtails & Crewcuts franchise in January 2016, and just one year later, became an Area Representative and now oversees our Alabama and Mississippi markets.
“I wanted to break into the Mississippi and Alabama markets because both areas were untapped, and we knew the concept had the potential to really take off there,” Andrew said. “We also wanted to bridge the gap between some of the states, like Louisiana and Tennessee, where there were also no existing Pigtails & Crewcuts.”
Andrew has also recently purchased the Roswell franchise, where he used to take his kids and is excited to continue building on the success and momentum he’s seen so far. In addition to his two Georgia franchise locations, Andrew is currently overseeing the recent opening of our first of two salons in Birmingham, AL.
The Key to Our Target Market Strategy
In addition to proven demand in similar markets, we are able to position our franchisees for success by targeting strong, family-friendly communities. Our target markets include total populations of at least 75,000, with at least several thousand families with young children.
By leveraging industry-leading market research software, we are able to analyze and identify area demographics that are favorable for our brand. Median household income, population density and an array of other valuable data points and insights provide us with a high level of visibility into areas that are the strongest development regions.
At the same time, demographics are only one component of finding an ideal market and location. While it provides a footprint of the area and can indicate demand, we also work one-on-one with franchisees and rely on their local knowledge of the market.
The southeast region continues to outpace the rest of the U.S. in population growth, and it offers a lower cost of living, affordable housing, a growing job market, and lower taxes. Collectively, these factors contribute to making it an economic climate ripe for business investment.
Are you ready to get started on your path to business ownership with Pigtails & Crewcuts? Download our franchise information packet to get started!
