2.10.5.1Vertical

Blow-Dry & Express Styling Bars

Blow-dry bar chains providing quick hair styling services.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Hair Salons (2.10.5), the segment that Blow-Dry & Express Styling Bars sits within. They are not figures for Blow-Dry & Express Styling Bars on its own.

Market size
~$26B
Growth
~2.5%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~72,778 firms
Firms by employee count

95.4% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 69,424 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe3,354 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
3,13093%
100–499
2036%
500+
211%

The largest personal-care category by firm count and the template for the sector's economics: recession-resilient, recurring, and intensely fragmented across ~73,000 firms. The structural shift is the salon-suite model (Sola, Phenix), which leases chairs to independent stylists and turns the operator into a landlord; that, plus value-haircut franchises (Great Clips, Sport Clips), is where consolidation actually runs, because traditional salon roll-ups struggle against booth-rent economics.

NAICS 812112. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Service fees and product sales; franchise/suite-rental income

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$352,634
Revenue per employee
$65,941
Employees per firm
5.3
Recurring revenue
Moderate

recurring repeat visits

EBITDA margin
10–20%
Capex intensity
Low

Characteristics

  • Balanced cost base: payroll is 44% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
  • Owner-operator dominated: 92% of businesses have no employees and take 49% of revenue
  • Thin strategic-buyer pool: only 21 firms exceed 500 employees, so exits skew sponsor-to-sponsor
  • Largest personal-care category by establishment count.
  • Salon-suite rental model reshaped the industry.
  • Recession-resilient but intensely fragmented and labor-driven.

NAICS 812112. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Nonemployer Statistics.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • Value-haircut franchise networks
  • Salon-suite real-estate platforms
  • PE-backed beauty consolidators

What’s driving deals

  • Franchise consolidation in value haircuts.
  • Salon-suite rental model expansion.
  • Fragmentation limiting traditional roll-ups.

Find Blow-Dry & Express Styling Bars acquisition targets

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