McLean, Va. — Close to a year ago, Hair Cuttery’s former owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after having to close all of the company’s salon locations. The bankruptcy followed years of changing consumer preferences, increased competition and existing organizational issues, which COVID-19 only exacerbated. With what was about to happen to the entire world, timing could not have been worse for the former ownership. Just months later, the world came to a startling halt. However, a new opportunity for Hair Cuttery was just around the corner.
In June 2020, and in the midst of the pandemic, HC Salon Holdings, led by CEO Seth Gittlitz, purchased the Hair Cuttery brand through an asset sale in the bankruptcy process and seized an opportunity to restore profitability to the struggling brand. Gittlitz and his team rebranded the company to operate as Hair Cuttery Family of Brands and focused the business on modernized technology, expanded marketing reach and innovative initiatives. The new leadership accepted the challenge to transform and modernize the salon chain, with the intention of supporting its most important asset: its employees.
“To start, HC Salon Holdings conducted a comprehensive assessment of the assets and developed a plan to ensure the success of the new company following the transaction,” says Gittlitz. “The company worked to redefine how Hair Cuttery Family of Brands should operate in a post-COVID environment. To establish this strategy, we internally answered some important questions around guest experience, while also placing this company’s focus on employee engagement and satisfaction to ensure that working here is their best job ever.”
In addition to having an emphasis on “employee engagement,” HC Salon Holdings also focused its efforts on four main questions to help build the brand in a positive and sustainable way:
- Who are the brand’s most loyal customers and why?
- How can we enhance our customer experience across all touchpoints?
- Which locations are most profitable?
- Where can we leverage technology to transform the business?
With assistance from FTI Consulting, a business advisory firm that specializes in restructuring, business transformation, change management and employee engagement, the company conducted employee feedback surveys and instituted operational changes.
Within 4 weeks of purchasing the assets, Hair Cuttery Family of Brands safely reopened 500-plus salons with strict health and safety measures and gave thousands of stylists their careers back. With the company on firm footing, financially and operationally, Hair Cuttery Family of Brands boasts tremendous opportunity for all salon professionals to grow and succeed into the future as the multi-brand company is one of the few businesses which offers a surplus of onboarding job opportunities in 2021 and beyond.
Hair Cuttery Family of Brands is the largest privately owned and operated chain of full-service hair salons in the United States, with more than 500 company-owned locations on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Hair Cuttery Family of Brands consists of three brands: Hair Cuttery®, Bubbles® and CIBU®. For more information, visit www.haircuttery.com.
SOURCE: Hair Cuttery