The Roots
Great Clips, Inc. was established in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1982, and is still headquartered there today. When Ray Barton, CEO, came on board in 1983, he brought with him a vision—a vision to revolutionize the haircare industry.
The Vision
Up until this point, most people received haircuts in one of three ways: in full-service salons, from a mom-and-pop barbershop, or at home. Barton saw the industry changing. He believed that haircare, like real estate, fast food, pizza and many other industries would soon be dominated by national franchise brands. If he could establish procedures to provide customers incredible convenience, affordability and a consistent, high-quality experience in every salon, it would be the concept that would change the haircare industry. Great Clips had the opportunity to lead that change and aggressively seized that opportunity without ever looking back.
The Revolution
Leading Great Clips from four salons with annual sales of less than $1 million in 1983, to more than 2,700 salons with annual sales of more than $700 million today, Ray Barton has seen his vision partially realized. Although Great Clips has experienced tremendous growth, it has no intentions of slowing down any time soon. We are working to increase our market share each and every day.
