Finding the right location is one of the first and most important steps you’ll take when starting a kid’s haircut franchise. A strong site helps generate high foot traffic and drive sales while setting the stage for inviting interior design that creates a fun, memorable atmosphere for your young clientele.
Because prime real estate is paramount to run a successful kid’s salon, we offer comprehensive site selection support for our Pigtails & Crewcuts franchisees. Backed by industry-leading expertise and data-driven insights, our corporate support team helps position franchisees for success from the very start.
Inside Our Comprehensive Site Selection Support
At Pigtails & Crewcuts, our site selection support follows a methodical process of identifying markets, analyzing trade area demographics, and finally, vetting specific sites for franchise locations. We also take a hands-on, collaborative approach to the process, including franchisees’ input and working to understand their preferences and priorities, first and foremost. Before we begin the search or examine specific sites, we meet one-on-one with franchisees to determine which markets they would like to enter.
“Many franchisees understandably prefer to open their business relatively close to home, making it easier and more convenient for them to be a hands-on owner,” said Wade Brannon, President and CEO of Pigtails & Crewcuts. “Plus, they’re already familiar with the area and community, which is important when starting a new kid’s hair salon business.”
After narrowing down a local market, our real estate support team moves on to the next stage of the site selection process – analyzing area demographics. We use market research software that provides us with this data, such as median household income, population density and an array of other valuable demographic insights.
Carrying out market research around the chosen location is crucial to help ensure there will be demand for the concept,” said Wade. “For instance, among other data points, our kid’s franchise brand performs best in areas with 100,000 or more residents and at least several thousand families with young children, so those are the markets we want to pursue and move forward with.”
Hitting the Ground Running with High-Traffic Areas That Drive Sales
Given favorable demographics that signal strong demand, we then begin the search for a specific site.
“We generally target several different types of locations, based on what has proven successful in similar markets,” Wade said. “These sites are often located in regional shopping centers with big-box anchors, or in local shopping centers with various service and retail businesses. These centers typically have high visibility, which is key for businesses like ours.”
Most importantly, however, the site needs to be located in an area where parents would regularly bring their children.
“We’ve seen a lot of success in neighborhood centers with grocery store-type anchors because parents frequently bring their children with them,” Wade said. “And because most families grocery shop on a weekly basis, these are high-traffic areas that regularly draw in our target demographic.”
In addition to high visibility and foot traffic, the location should also be easily accessible.
“Strong ingress and egress is crucial, and parking is a must,” Wade said. “Particularly in larger shopping centers, it’s important that the salon is just as easily accessible as it is visible.”
Laying the Foundation to Build a Profitable Franchise Business
Guided by years of experience and expertise, we’re able to help franchisees secure solid locations with high visibility, accessibility and foot traffic – at a price point that ensures they’re still able to turn a strong profit.
“Site selection isn’t just about finding the perfect physical location that ticks all the boxes we’re looking for, in terms of visibility, access, and demand,” Wade said. “We also need to make sure the site is just as appealing when it comes to initial purchase price, build-out costs and/or any ongoing expenses, like rent and utilities. No location is perfect, and it’s more important to ensure your overhead is low enough to allow for profitability.”
In order to secure the most competitive pricing, our corporate support team works with local commercial real estate partners to performs comparative research into the targeted location. Informed by the average sale for comparable commercial real estate in the area, franchisees are well-positioned to secure the best possible pricing during lease or contract negotiations. With industry-leading guidance, expertise and insights, we’re able to help franchisees secure the strongest sites, and put them on the path to success in business.
