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.
(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) Would you like to see further investigation and reporting on 18|8 Fine Men’s Salon franchise? Contribute here:
18|8 Fine Men’s Salon Franchise Investigation (GoFundMe page)
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.
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:
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?
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)
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 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:
ALSO READ:
FRANCHISE DISCUSSIONS by Company
NOTE: We invite all parties discussed to share corrections, clarifications, explanations, rebuttals, and alternative points of views. Franchisors, franchisees, employees and others discussed here can leave comments below or submit rebuttals and clarifications via email to UnhappyFranchisee[at]Gmail.com.
Opinions and representations expressed are those of the parties alone; do your own research and make up your own mind. We are a discussion site and invite all opinions from all points of view which can be left as comments or submitted to UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com for possible publication. Anonymous commenting is fine. Please consider supporting our effort with a contribution to Unhappy Franchisee.
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?
SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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
Recent developments have left franchisees worried and uncertain about their futures. To advocate for greater…
The Building Kidz Worldwide franchise is an opportunity to own a preschool & childcare center…
PAINT NAIL BAR has undergone some significant changes since franchisees contacted us with their complaints,…
U.S. Veterans magazine has removed JDog Brands as its #1 "Best Franchises for Veterans" list.…
More than 400 Veterans & military families who invested in JDog Brands franchises have failed,…
Genevieve McDaniel is a former franchisee turned franchise researcher, franchisee advocate, advisor and fiercely honest…
View Comments
International Franchise Professional Group highly promoted franchise amongst broker consultants. For those who entered into a license agreement with Eighteen Eight or Griffs Ace Grooming and Shave Bar you should immediately file suit to at a minimum obtain your franchise fee back from the broker consultant who was complicit in the sale of this franchise and likely not listed in the FDD. It is also possible to file suit against the International Franchise Professional Group for acting as intermediary between the franchise and broker consultants. All this in addition to your losses and FDD violations, if any, against the company itself. See a reputable franchise attorney as soon as possible and one that defends franchisees and not franchisors.
Have any 18|8 franchisees filed a claim vs. IFPG and/or the broker that introduced them to 18|8? Looks like IFPG is based in NJ, which has a 6-year statute of limitations period for fraud claims (which may not start until you should have first learned of the alleged fraud). If so, did you hire an attorney or file the claim yourself given that you had to purchase the franchise as an individual. Thanks
I am not aware of a suit.
I know periodically many franchisees who lost their life savings might occasionally read this site as they pause to reflect on how they got swindled, so here’s a thought: my suspicion is that there has been some serious money to be had by lawsuits occurring after the first group of franchisees prevailed in their departure. The subsequent folks had more information to go on and were not bound by any limiting factors. Of course all settlements have NDAs associated, but keep an eye out for when individual franchisees go dark on communication. It probably means a significant payout. St Gregory, still hoping to sell franchises in CA, may have paid out big bucks. They also don’t want other would be franchisors to know of their ongoing litigation. Maybe 7 figures was the payout from STG. Obviously STG and Lance were complicit in pulling off this fraud where Griffits could not support one cost of goods sold number reported on the FDD. STG clearly knew the financial reporting section was probably the provision that investors would focus on. STG gave 47% as the cost of goods figure. No way they get by with no lifting a finger to look at a single document to support selling over 100 franchisees to people paying $100,000. Throw in how Griffiths was proven to be a liar quickly and easily under oath.
I told Griffiths this would be my brand. Now it's my brand. Good riddance to the Grifter.
Yelp has been removing all my good reviews. Does anyone know what I can do about that? Looking for some advice. Anyone?
Chris Clown, what reviews? Can you explain a little more? Yelp is so tricky.
Also, does anyone know the end results of Griffiths and his beloved Loretta, Ron Love, Brown, Brigitte? Im curious to know as they have caused so much grief to so many that I hope they feel our pain x 1000.
St. Gregory was such a scam as are most "franchise consultants" that are in the business of selling multiple units to overly optimistic customers. I was in the business of assessing risk across a portfolio of franchise brands and one of the #1 red flags pointing to a short-lived brand was outsourced development. It pains me to hear the stories of loss that entrepreneurs have encountered not because of a lack of individual effort and sacrifice but due to the grossly unreasonable expectations set by franchise brands. Hopefully aspiring franchisees see this thread and take a minute to understand how the franchise model works and the divide between hope & reality.
Has anyone heard of what has become of Scott Griffith?
Still lives in a 2 plus million dollar house with three Lexus cars in the driveway.
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/