Texas-based Sport Clips, Inc., is looking to cut a wider path in Minnesota and North Dakota, with plans to expand to at least 70 locations in the two states in the next four years.
There are currently 26 Sport Clips Haircuts locations in Minnesota and two in North Dakota. Sport Clips opened its first Minnesota outlet in Coon Rapids in 2008.
Bob Chelberg, area developer for Sport Clips, said that the company is keenly aware of big hair players in the Twin Cities, including Edina-based Regis Corporation and Bloomington-based Great Clips, Inc.
“We’re in the backyard of Regis and Great Clips. . . . They have their niche and we have ours,” said Chelberg, who is also a Sport Clips franchisee.
The Sport Clips niche? Haircuts for men and boys in an environment with TVs that are usually tuned to ESPN.
“I think it’s just the comfortability of the stores for guys,” Chelberg said. “I think the look and feel of the store is important.”
Sport Clips has tapped real estate broker Molly Townsend of the Minneapolis office of St. Louis-based Cassidy Turley to scout locations for new stores.
Sport Clips, which is based in Georgetown, Texas, currently has nearly 1,100 locations.
The bulk of Sport Clips’ Minnesota locations are in the Twin Cities, but they have outlets in St. Cloud, Mankato, and Duluth. The current North Dakota locations are in Grand Forks and Fargo.
While the oil boom is driving growth for the North Dakota economy, Chelberg said that’s driving steep prices for retail sites. He thinks that Sport Clips can ultimately have six to eight locations in North Dakota.
“The challenge is real estate out there,” he said.