Do chain hair salons (ex. Great cuts) train their stylists to a general standard, or do they hire them from schools like boutique salons?

I went to a chain once, where I knew the stylist. She told me they take special classes provided by the chain, that show them how to cut hair quickly. They still have to be licensed stylists to cut hair legally, so they have had to go to school and be licensed by the state.

The advantage? I would say price.

I have found in my many years of going to stylists that it all depends on the stylist. In the expensive place I go to now, I had a substitute style my hair once and it was a mess. If I were a new client and paid for that service, I would never return. That said, I had great cuts from lower price places just because the stylist happened to be great. I only went to a chain place once, like I said, and the cut was lousy. If I were a guy and just getting a run of the mill “guy cut” it might be adequate.

For the owner of the salon the advantage to a franchise is the same as it is for any business: name recognition and a guideline as to how to operate a successful business.

For men and kids, I like Sport Cuts. They have TVs playing sports all over the place, cute women that give you a quick, cheap cut and a head massage. It’s a good deal.

I am not aware of any chain salons geared towards women.

Thanks, @jca, that gets to the heart of my question. I was wondering if the chains operated their own schools for licensing for more standardization. Guess not. I’m getting tired of trying to train people to cut my hair decently at individual salons.

I’d try Sport Cuts if we had one, @GloPro. I’m thinking about going with a military cut. Maybe a 1–2 razor on the sides and an inch on top. Something standard. I knew I shoulda bought that FlowBee!

My understanding is that the chains rent out the “chair”. As a stylist, you get space to work and a steady influx of clients due to the name recognition of the chain. Individual stylists must be licensed by the state.

@syz That’s how most of the salon’s around here are handled as well. They rent out the chair to the stylist. We actually have moved from one salon to another in order to follow our preferred stylist before. They move to the salon with the best deal. I don’t pay much attention to the name of the salon. We’ve been to so many states and, in my experience, the quality of one does not speak for the quality of another.

#fringebenefits #bangsforyabuck

@ibstubro: They still have to get their hair styling license from the state. The chains have their own training program to teach them how to be quick, which is different from a regular salon which wants quality over quantity.