Sola Salons Franchise Webinar: From Real Estate to Multi-Unit Ownership

With successful careers in commercial real estate, Marc Barber and his partner, Wesley Staples, looked toward franchise ownership for additional expansion. The two leveraged their industry expertise and chose to invest in Sola Salons, the leading salon suites franchise, ultimately acquiring an existing location in California. About a month later, the two learned of an available territory in their area and quickly signed an agreement for two more locations.

Barber and Staples will join 1851 Franchise Publisher Nick Powills to discuss their journey from commercial real estate to salon suite ownership, reflect on their development to this point and discuss growth plans and the future of the industry.

Barber and Staples discovered Sola Salons when Staples noted the impressive cash flow the executive suites model can create. Leaning on the idea of “highest and best use,” which is often used in commercial real estate appraisal, the two considered whether Sola Salons locations were “maximally productive.” For example, a drive-thru in a busy area may not be maximally productive as the valuable real estate goes unused for hours on end when the restaurant is closed.

The Sola Salons real estate model, on the other hand, is quite productive.

“I don’t think a lot of real estate is being used to its maximum productivity,” Barber said. “I think, when you segment real estate into smaller pieces, as is done in the suites model, it makes it way more maximally productive. When you take something that people want to use and provide it in the way they want to use it, they’re willing to pay a little bit more for that convenience. In the beauty category, the suite model is more maximally productive than a traditional space is for that category.”

This philosophy drove the duo to acquire their first location in Daly City. Shortly after, availability opened in Sacramento, and the two felt it was something they “couldn’t really pass up.”

“There was probably a month between purchasing the Daly City location and buying two more,” Barber said. “It was a very strategic decision for us to have the opportunity to buy what we felt were two of the best locations available.”

Now, as they work toward developing their next two locations, and potentially more after that, they are excited about the opportunity to leverage a strong real estate play and expand with the backing of a proven franchise system.

As demand for the salon suites model continues to grow, Sola Salons is looking toward additional expansion in California.