SPORTS CLIPS: A Great Franchise? Read Recent Comments.
In April, 2009, franchise writer and consultant Sean Kelly asked readers “Is Sports Clips a Great Franchise?” The question was prompted by the incongruity between published reports of success and anonymous rumors of widespread franchise failures.
According to the company, in January, 2009 Sports Clips opened their 600th salon and are reportedly up to 630. According to Sports Clips founder and CEO Gordon Logan, “Sport Clips opened almost half of all hair care concept franchises in the U.S. last year.”
The comments that we’ve received so far in November have been overwhelmingly negative. In fact, the single Sports Clips defender’s comment warranted its own post (read SPORTS CLIPS Franchisee: Failed Owners Have Themselves to Blame) Here are the November, 2009 comments on the original post:
Mon 11/2/2009 10:22 AM sportsclips is a joke wrote:
Is there anything else we can do as Franchise owners if we band together? Our entire state has suffered from a blatant lack of support and virtually everyone is losing money. Is it true that even if you want to sell Gordon will try to take any money above and beyond your buildout cost, because he claims it was his system that made your business worth more than just the cost of the build out? If so, you will be attached at the hip with this devil for a lifetime. Better to take your loss now and just close up shop
Could all of the disgruntled owners file a lawsuit against Gordon Logans unethical practices? I can tell you from personal experience that Gordan lied to my face at one of his famous "huddles" and to make matters worse he had one of his henchmen lie our entire state in the form of an email. I would like to go into more detail but do not need additional screw–tany from Gordan and his kind…
Wed 11/4/2009 11:52 AM Been There Done That wrote:
Attempts have been made to organize an Independent Organization of Franchisees, but there was never any interest. In fact, the franchisees who tried to get something going were lambasted by others.
Logan doesn’t just try to cap sales at buildoutamount, he has been known to assert that the store is worth no more than asset value in order to block sales and make life difficult for owners trying to get out.
I walked away a pauper, but at least I no longer have to listen to the lies from Logan and Clete Brewer.
Those still in the system should band together.
Wed 11/4/2009 11:58 AM Been There Done That wrote:
I attmepted to get a group together to sue, but I was unsuccesful. Ultimately I shut the store, made a settlement payment to the landlord, and defaulted on my loan. My financial situation is a disaster, but I stopped the bleeding and got out of this awful system.
Regarding Logan’s lies, the list just keeps growing. At the last "huddle" that I attended he said from the podium that they don’t make anything on what owners are required to buy. The required disclosure in the UFOC says otherwise. Additionally, the costs that they dislose to offset the revenues are obviously inflated. Logan makes 100’s of thousands every year off what owners have to buy, yet lies about it.
He has no scruples. "heart of a champion"??? Spare me.
class action ? wrote:
I have heard through the growing and now very large network of devastated owners that there is a law firm somewhere in Texas that is building a case against these demons. if that is true then all owners must stand up and be counted and join in. you have already lost your shirt. at least we must protect the future owners that will loose their retirement / college money for their kids / and their sanity and relationships. these people know what they are doing and it is wrong
Wed 11/4/2009 9:04 PM lawsuits wrote:
I have heard a group has banded together. there is a big named lawfirm involved. apparently….one of the big daddy lawyers from chicago ….his son and daughter in law have lost their ass with sportclips and the lawyer dad is pissed and is going to go full speed at logan and put his sorry bullshit ass out of business.
Wed 11/4/2009 11:49 PM me wrote:
I have noticed the other site disappeared, whats with that.Some pressure must have been applied from somewhere, I think wwe all know from where. Whats with legal action. Any one have some info? I would like to join!!
Wed 11/4/2009 10:12 AM do your homework wrote:
for any prospective owners out there. do not do this. you will loose everything. it is a scam and you will loose everything you put in / your sanity / and probably your marriage or relationship. you will be nothing but a patsy helping these scums build a brand and make royalties while you continue to borrow money to hold on. out of 650 stores i would wager that only 10% of them actually turn a profit and could prove it. this is wrong …these people need to be stopped. I am in my 3rd year of ownership and have lost everything.
Sat 11/7/2009 10:00 AM Been There Done That wrote:
This group needs to reach out. There are LOTS of current and former franchisees in most parts of the country that would love the opportunity to watch Logan get that stupid hat handed to him as his only remaining possession. If those pursuing legal action would reach out, they’d find others willing to join in.
If the oompany went bankrupt, it would be a godsend for those still operating. Many stores would be at breakeven if they weren’t sending royalties to TX, along with pouring marketing and training dollars down the drain. It is the rare sports clip franchisee who thinks they get value for any of those weekly debits.
Rumor has it that the latest UFOC even increases some of these fees and adds additonal weekly fees for the computer system.
Logan’s deceit and greed is gonna be his undoing. Hopefully soon.
Sat 11/7/2009 9:36 PM Updabutt wrote:
Only a real idiot would invest in this franchise now. In 2003-2005, they were not exposed for the crooks they really are. With all you can find on them now, be smart people, Bernie Madoff is a saint compared to Gordon Logan…
Lawyers and more lawyers. This goon, Gordon Logan is a crook and thief of the highest level. #2 Stooly, Clete is no better.
1. Great concept
2. No way will you make money unless you are already rich and can open 20-30 of them.
3. The fees per week and month make it impossible to make money.
4. Hair stylists that will work in these places are convicts, criminals and drug heads. Do you want your family near this type of people.
5.They do a great job of sucking in the highly successful business people as an investment, bilk them for $500K and then take their location, equipment and give it to one of the chosen ones. Kinda like the hair mafia.
6. Watch their IOC offering. They misspell and put in false names and addresses of those sued or being sued so you cannot speak to these people.
7. Have seen pictures of their new concept in FL where they hire strippers, hold "gentlemen’s parties and hair is becoming the second line of work.
Wed 11/11/2009 3:08 PM Took It In the Shorts wrote:
It’s difficult to say who is more evil between Logan and Brewer.
1. Don’t agree that the concept is great. After you dig in, you learn that the cost of entry is too high and limiting the market by eliminating people who pay the most for a haircut leaves lots of money on the table.
2. Success is driving almost entirely by having a great location.
3. Agree that fees were killers.
4. I had some stylists like you describe, but also had lots of good folks. Finding the good ones was very difficult. Finding the thieves and druggies was very easy.
5. Hair mafia is a good description for them. Fortunately, once you’re away from them you may be significantly poorer, but you can get away.
6. They also fail to disclose names of former owners in their UFOC. Could be errors based on the quality of people they have at HQ, as they are mostly incompetent. They also have most former owners sign gag orders so they can’t talk about what went on.
7. Haven’t seen any pictures, but from what I could tell most of the stores down in Fla were losing money hand over fist. They need to do something to make money, so strippers makes sense. Last time I was in Fla, it seems like there was a girlie bar on every corner. Must keep the old codgers blood pumping.
Fri 11/13/2009 3:41 PM Fonda Cox wrote:
I worked for Clete Brewer’s sorry ass at another company he ran in the ground. Don’t believe a word he says. He is a wolf in sheeps clothing. He fed us a line of bullshit about how he was going to make us rich. We worked our fingers to the bone and he is the only one that got rich. He and his little wifey even had the nerve to have thier 13,000 Square Foot home featured in a magazine after they screwed everyone. At meeting he would have us pull on a rope and say lets all pull on the rope to make us successful. Little did we know we were pulling in one direction and he was pulling in another.
Check out the Sports Clips press release on UnhappyFranchisee.com boasting same-store sales growth in 2009 and high industry rankings:
SPORTS CLIPS Boasts Strong Franchise Rankings
Comments welcome.
I got out of my Sport Clips franchise last Nov. In the end, I simply ran out of money and had to walk away. The AD took over the store settling with my lender for salvage value of assets (pennies on the dollar) and leaving me with around $250,000 in debts between the lender, the landlord, and the bank lines of credit. I am financially ruined with criditors harassing me constantly for money I don’t have. I could have tolerated Gordon Logan’s deviousness and self-serving 2-faced lies if I ever made any money at this business, but I never did. The BIG lie is that the Sport Clips concept is not a generally viable business model with some exceptions. Gordon NEVER tested the concept in new geographies, but just threw stores out there to see if they would fly. The vast majority simply do not. The reasons? Men’s only hair services are simply NOT profitable. You MUST provide (the more expensive) women’s services as well to turn a dollar. Furthermore, many markets are over-saturated with hair salon options for consumers and the Sport Clips is not able to attract enough market share from competitors to stay afloat. Unprofitable, undifferentiated business model, over-saturated market, excessive operating costs in many markets, and high startup costs are the main reasons Sport Clips does not work. Sport Clips corporate has always known this and masks the numbers by not tracking or disclosing net profitabilit statistics up front. Since the concept DOES work in selected markets, their IMMORAL and UNCONSCIONABLE strategy has been to throw stores out there everywhere (so they can say they are the fastest growing national men’s hair care chain) KNOWING that many would fail and franchisees would lose their life savings, jeopardize their retirements, kid’s ability to go to college, and generally experience financial ruin. To put it simply, Sport Clips is NOT a viable business model and Sport Clips corporate knows this but doesn’t care. If this rant prevents one prospective franchisee from investing in Sport Clips, I’ve accomplished my purpose.
Sorry I have to buck the trend here but when I owned 2 stores one was making me decent money and the other was barely staying afloat. I opened 2 more attempting to mimic the success of the 1st one and it did work. I relocated my 2nd store and now I have 2 successful and 2 very successful store earning me an income I would probably not be able to demand in the corporate world with my BBA in Business Finance. It’s true, the stores in TX, OK, and CO do the best so please just do your due diligence and speak to many owners in the region you plan on opening and get first hand facts.
I am very sorry to hear from the people who have suffered. I think there is too little clarity about how hard it is to make money in this business. Geography and then the specific store location is absolutely critical and the latter is impossible to assess prior to purchasing the franchise licenses because the search for the location begins after the licenses are purchased. Probably the best thing for newcomers to do is buy an existing store that is already proven to be a good location. If the existing owners aren’t opening new stores that is the best indicator of how low the odds are of success.
I know this firsthand because I have one B+ location and one A location and I have seen the full range of stores and owners. Even a B+ location is way more work, stress, and far less ROI. It took me two years to break even and I’ve made a very small profit since then, not accounting for the thousands of hours invested. All things considered, I think it only makes sense to own a B location if you are purchasing it within a package of 5 or more stores. The B location badly managed is a disaster but, well-managed by a multi-unit owner, it can return a modest ROI, particularly because it will be purchased at a discount and the headaches of opening the store are in the rear view mirror.
Clete and jerry postin are good men. I wood follow them anywhores.
Just want to say that the employees and management is the other side and if franchisees would let them do there jobs and not show favorites in workplace there wouldn’t be such inconsistency also if franchises have proper accommodation for clientele.
This is very interesting reading to say the least.
I had very similar experience in the 80’s with the fastest growing Hair care Franchise. The bottom line is if you take the Franchise cost out of the equation you probably have a profitable business. The hair care industry is to labor intensive to support a franchise fee and ridiculous up front cost.
You can open a full service Salon including leasehold improvements, utility deposits, Insurance signage, inventory, equipment and everything else necessary to do business for less then 20k. These franchise offerings are pie in the sky sold by snake oil salesmen.
If you are going to be successful it’s on you. You can’t buy a magic plan. These guys are great at separating fools from their money not cutting hair! You folks would be smart to form a co op in your states for purchasing power and enter a class action suit against the Franchisor with the intent of settling for separation.
Here is another thing to consider for future prospects. Why? would you invest your hard earned money into a business that you have to employ a specially licensed person to post a license to allow you to open your door each day. You are already at the mercy of someone else. Scratching my head how anybody gets passed this most important question in the sales presentation. When I bought my franchises I was licensed myself.
After 24 years in the Hair care business the happiest day was the last day.
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