18/8 Eighteen Eight Fine Men’s Salons Franchise Warning
18/8 Eighteen Eight Fine Men’s Salons overstates the success of its franchises and understates its franchise failures, according to a franchise owner who provided this anonymous complaint. We invite others to validate or dispute this claim – and share their opinions of the Eighteen Eight Fine Men’s Salon franchise, the Griff’s Shave Bar franchise, and franchisor Ultimate Franchises Inc.
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Eighteen Eight Fine Men’s Salons – How Many Open / Closed / Rebranded? is an anonymously submitted guest post penned by a current or former 18/8 franchise owner.
We have not verified the claims made herein, and invite readers and the company to validate or dispute this and other complaints regarding the 18/8 Fine Men’s Salon franchise or the sister concept Griff’s Shave Bar.
The writer believes all information and numbers to be accurate, but invites readers to verify independently and draw their own conclusions.
Here’s the Guest Post:
Eighteen Eight Fine Men’s Salons – How Many Open / Closed / Rebranded?
Submitted by An 18/8 Franchise Owner.
In a recent Forbes interview (dated 6/13/18), franchise CEO (Chief Exaggerating Officer), Scott Griffiths severely overstates franchise success, open location count, and units in development of the 18/8 Fine Men’s Salon franchise chain.
Scott Griffiths is also the principal of Ultimate Franchises Inc. and the sub-brand Griff’s Shave Bar.
The premise of the article is how the financial crisis helped 18|8 Fine Men’s Salons grow faster through franchising than it would have organically.
While franchising has helped the 18|8 brand grow in store count in recent years, the rapid closing of locations throughout the country has led to many franchisees losing their life savings.
Griffiths states in the article, “Since franchising, 18|8 Fine Men’s Salons has grown to nearly 100 locations, with more than 150 in development.”
Eighteen Eight’s own website only lists 61 operating locations. Where are the other 39?
In a recent internal call with franchisees, Griffiths claims 75 open locations.
Did he mean “nearly” 75?
Where is the truth?
24 18/8 Fine Men’s Salons Have Closed
By our count, 24 stores have closed, including Irvine Westpark, which was once the highest grossing location in the country.
1. Irvine, CA (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salon-irvine-2)
2. Westlake Village, CA (https://www.yelp.com/biz/eighteen-eight-fine-mens-salon-westlake-village)
3. San Rafael, CA (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salon-san-rafael)
4. Walnut Creek, CA (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-walnut-creek-walnut-creek-2)
5. Culver City, CA (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-culver-city-culver-city-5)
6. La Jolla, CA (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-la-jolla-la-jolla-2)
7. Little Italy (San Diego), CA (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-broadstone-little-italy-san-diego)
8. Washington, DC (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-washington)
9. Coral Gables, FL (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salon-coral-gables)
10. Bethesda, MD (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-bethesda-bethesda)
11. Maple Lawn, MD (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-maple-lawn-fulton-2)
12. North Baltimore, MD (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-greenspring-baltimore-2)
13. St. Louis Park, MN (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-st-louis-park-st-louis-park-2)
14. Bedminster, NJ (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-bedminster)
15. Westwood, NJ (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-westwood)
16. Florham Park, NJ (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-florham-park-florham-park)
17. Edgewater, NJ (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-city-place-edgewater-edgewater)
18. Livingston, NJ (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-livingston-livingston)
19. Woodbury, NJ (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-woodbury-woodbury)
20. Beachwood, OH (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-beachwood-beachwood-2)
21. Avon Commons, OH (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-avon-commons-avon)
22. Lake Oswego, OR (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-lake-oswego-lake-oswego-4)
23. McKinney, TX (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-mckinney-mckinney)
24. Fort Worth, TX (https://www.yelp.com/biz/18-8-fine-mens-salons-fort-worth-fort-worth)
19 Eighteen Eight Salon Locations Have Rebranded
It appears that 19 Eighteen Eight Fine Men’s Salon locations have rebranded:
1. Ocotillo, AZ
2. Waterfront, AZ
3. Newport Beach, CA
4. West Hollywood, CA
5. Dublin, CA
6. Brea, CA
7. Huntington Beach, CA
8. Campbell, CA
9. Roseville, CA
10. Mountain View, CA
11. Laguna Niguel, CA
12. Closter, NJ
13. Jersey City, NJ
14. Mamaroneck, NJ
15. Cool Springs, TN
16. Plano, TX
17. Flower Mound, TX
18. Richardson, TX
19. Bothell, WA
6 Other 18/8 Franchise Locations Have Been Taken Over by Corporate
6 other former franchise locations have had operations taken over by 18|8 corporate;
1. Anaheim Hills, CA
2. Lake Forest, CA
3. Centennial, CO
4. Annapolis, MD
5. Princeton, NJ
6. Powell, OH
The franchise page of the eighteeneight.com franchise website states: “Total Investment Range is $291,851 – $513,639 for a single 18|8 Fine Men’s Salon.”
Considering all store closures, rebrands, and corporate takeovers, this equates to $14.3-$25.1 million in lost investor value. This total does not include resales that have netted the original owner negative value.
Scott Griffiths claims 150 units in development. In the first 6 months of 2018 alone, over 2 dozen locations have either closed or rebranded, while only 2 new locations have opened. In an amazing twist of irony; the recent Forbes article is titled “Growth Stories: How the Financial Crisis Caused This Business To Grow Ten Times Faster.”
Share your personal Growth Story with 18|8 Fine Men’s Salons in the comments.
[End of Guest Submitted Content]
See how many locations Ultimate Franchises, Inc. claims to have as of July, 2017. See Item 20 for location and sales information, and the exhibits for a list of current and former franchise owners:
18/8 Fine Men’s Salons Franchise Disclosure Document 7/17
ALSO READ:
FRANCHISE DISCUSSIONS by Company
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ARE YOU AN 18/8 EIGHTEEN EIGHT FRANCHISE OWNER OR GRIFF’S SHAVE BAR FRANCHISEE? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE ULTIMATE FRANCHISES, INC. CONCEPTS AND SUPPORT?
IS SCOTT GRIFFITHS EXAGGERATING THE SUCCESS & UNDERSTATING THE RISK OF HIS FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES?
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TAGS: 18/8 Fine Men’s Salons, 18/8 Fine Men’s Salons franchise, 18/8 Salon franchise opportunity, 18/8 Fine Men’s Salons franchise complaints, Eighteen Eight Salon franchise, Eighteen Eight Salon franchise, Griff’s Shave Bar franchise, Ultimate Franchises Inc., franchise complaints, Scott Griffiths, W. Scott Griffiths, Ron Love, Loretta Hwong Griffiths, , Brigitte Love Thewes, Mark Elson, unhappy franchisee
I heard Scott now is selling art as a way to earn income, in part.
Can anyone confirm that? I remember him talking about art some. And, the book he tried to get us to sell in the stores, early on, did have have write-up on artists. Could be true.
It is sad that he still owns his house, as noted above, after causing others who didn’t know he was committing fraud lost their homes and livelihoods.
Someone asked about Bridgette. Looks like she learned from the master. She was excluded from the adversing arbitration judgment. Even so, later on, she filed BK. So much for the line that thinking positively, as opposed to realisticly, magically changes the outcome. I suspect there are lots of franchisees who wished they didn’t take all their direction from St. Gregory and Bridgette as to who to talk to in 18|8. Almost all those who fell into that trap also lost their life savings.
found his art page
https://www.griffsfineart.com/
The asshole know as Scott Griffiths filed for bankruptcy and Loretta. Case number 8-21-bk10941-Ta. I think they get to keep their house worth 2 million.
Scott recently started following my old 18|8 Instagram page. That page hasn’t been updated since July 2019. That’s kind of creepy.
His IG handle is rhinochasers and it is filled with his artwork.
I cannot believe that these THIEVES aka as, Scott & Loretta Griffiths, Ron Love, Bridgette Thewes, Mark Elson, Chris Brown, St Greg Group AND many more who know who they are, are still walking around on our dime without any penalties. Filthy, disgusting parasites that should find no happiness in our money. Stolen money has bad karma, it never results in happiness. May they spend every dime on lawyers and may they never sleep right. May they always worry. May they always look over their shoulder. May they spend our money on their doctors appointments with no remedy in sight. May their children wreak the havoc of their bad behavior. Nothing worse than bad karma. Cheers friends, God works in mysterious ways.
Has any seen SG lately?
I heard when we couldn’t (or wouldn’t) pay back the $60K to the temporary purchaser of the Costa Mesa store, he blamed franchisees as opposed to himself for the fraud he committed in the legal FDD documents. Unbelievable how he lives in dential.
You would think he would feel guilty for “stealing” people’s life savings in a manner that parallels Bernie Madoff.
How in the world did a judge let Bridgette file BK?
Maybe she and SG put money in foreign bank accounts that the court did not see.
I do think Bridgette learned from the master of fraud. SG learned so much from the time he filed for BK that we never knew about and from the time he owned the 18|8 that failed that he never listed in the FDD.
Scott the Fraud Griffiths is NOW selling what he calls art. It’s not worthy for a garage sale or for Thursdays Garbage pick up. He is a swindler, they all are. Parasites.
any update on the 18-8 frauds?
Grifter and Lowretta have filed for personal bankruptcy
https://unicourt.com/case/pc-bk5-william-scott-griffiths-and-loretta-han-yi-griffiths-1428519
Does anyone have any updates whether financial or personal on the frauds: scott griffiths, ron love, loretta griffiths, brigette love, chris brown?
Curious and wont rest until these frauds are exposed. Thank you.
Any news on this? Any update on the cast of criminals?