Supercuts Item 19: $297K median across 1,661 franchised salons in fiscal 2024-2025. Why the modest revenue still works at low investment, and how Supercuts compares to Great Clips and Sport Clips.
Quick answer: Supercuts’ Item 19 reports a $297K median across 1,661 franchised salons for fiscal year 2024-2025 — a large, conservative disclosure. The absolute revenue is modest, but the AUV-to-investment ratio at the midpoint runs ~1.7× because hair-services cost structure scales down with revenue. The brand sits below Great Clips and Sport Clips on absolute AUV, reflecting positioning differences and category share dynamics. Hair franchises work as low-capital, low-complexity operating models — Supercuts fits that profile, just at slightly tighter unit economics than the category leaders.
Supercuts’ most recent Item 19:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1,661 franchised salons |
| Sample criteria | All franchised units |
| Reporting period | Fiscal year 2024-2025 |
| Median annual revenue | $297,216 |
| Total investment (Item 7) | $1,000 - $353,460 |
| Franchise fee | $12,500 |
| Royalty rate | 4% |
| Ad fund | 5% |
The 1,661-salon sample is methodologically robust. The disclosed median ($297K) sits below the two main hair-services franchise comparables — Great Clips at $382K and Sport Clips at $409K (with Sport Clips’ tenure filter inflating its number relative to all-salon disclosures).
The unusually wide investment range ($1K-$353K) reflects two genuinely different entry paths: existing-salon acquisition (where the buyer takes over operations at minimal incremental capital) and new-build greenfield. The acquisition path is the lower-risk, lower-capital entry for first-time franchisees; new-builds carry the higher capital burden but also the higher revenue ceiling.
Supercuts produces a median annual revenue ($297K) that’s about 78% of Great Clips ($382K) and 73% of Sport Clips ($409K, mature-salon filter). Three structural factors explain the gap:
Positioning has narrowed. Supercuts targets a unisex, value-positioned customer base. That used to be the dominant hair-services positioning in the 1990s-2000s — and Supercuts captured it. Since then, the category has fragmented: Sport Clips took the men-focused segment, Great Clips took the children-and-family-segment, premium chains took the women-with-disposable-income segment, and Supercuts has retained the middle without clear positioning advantage.
Customer mix dynamics. Supercuts customers skew older than Sport Clips and Great Clips, which compounds the share-shift problem over time. New customers entering the hair-services category are more likely to select Sport Clips (men) or Great Clips (families) before considering Supercuts. The customer base ages with the brand rather than refreshing.
System maturity. The Supercuts system has stabilized at ~1,660 franchised salons rather than growing. Mature systems with stable footprints typically produce lower per-salon AUV than growth-mode systems, because the trade-area saturation effect compresses individual salon performance.
For a buyer, the implication is that Supercuts is a mature, stable, lower-growth franchise rather than a brand on an upward trajectory. The deal works at the disclosed economics, but expectations of system-level revenue lift from brand momentum are misplaced.
A $297K median against $177K of investment (Item 7 midpoint) produces a ratio of roughly 1.7×. That ratio is genuinely competitive — not just within hair-services, but against most franchise categories.
The reason hair-services franchise economics work at low absolute AUV is the cost structure:
Operating expense scales down proportionately with revenue. A $250K salon operates at similar margin percentage as a $400K salon — there’s no operational complexity that requires a fixed-cost floor.
The result is that a Supercuts salon at the disclosed median produces $40K-$60K of owner cash flow at year-three steady-state — modest in absolute dollars, but materially better than the average small business of comparable revenue.
| Brand | Sample | Median AUV | Investment | AUV/Investment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supercuts | 1,661 | $297K | $1K-$353K | 1.7× |
| Great Clips | 4,147 | $382K | $144K-$307K | 1.7× |
| Sport Clips | 1,669 (mature) | $409K | $258K-$483K | 1.1× |
| Hair Cuttery | smaller | $300K-$500K (est.) | $200K-$400K | 1.5× |
| Cost Cutters | smaller | $250K-$400K (est.) | $150K-$300K | 1.5× |
| Fantastic Sams | smaller | $250K-$350K (est.) | $130K-$280K | 1.5× |
Supercuts sits in the middle of the hair-services peer set on absolute AUV but produces ratios comparable to Great Clips, the category leader. Sport Clips outpaces on absolute revenue (with mature-salon filter) but at higher investment. The hair-services category is broadly consistent on ratios in the 1.5-2× range.
For deeper category context, see our Great Clips Item 19 deep dive and Sport Clips Item 19 deep dive.
A new Supercuts salon in months 1-12 typically generates:
That’s 65-80% of system median. Hair-services ramps faster than most franchise categories because:
Year two typically reaches the system median. The strongest salons (P75+ territory) typically have:
For broader category context, see our best hair salon and barbershop franchise breakdown and Item 19 average vs. median. For brand-specific cost detail, the live Supercuts franchise page.
Supercuts' most recent Item 19 reports a $297,216 median annual revenue across 1,661 franchised salons for fiscal year 2024-2025. The disclosure covers all franchised units — methodologically conservative.
Three reasons. First, Supercuts targets a unisex value-positioned customer base that overlaps with Great Clips but at slightly lower ticket. Second, the brand has lost some new-customer share to Sport Clips (men-focused) and to Great Clips (children/family-focused) as those competitors have grown more aggressively. Third, the salon count has stabilized rather than grown — mature trade areas with declining local share produce structurally lower AUV than growth-mode systems.
At the midpoint, yes. $297K of median revenue against $177K of investment (Item 7 midpoint) produces a ratio of roughly 1.7×. That's competitive within hair-services and stronger than most QSR ratios on a percentage basis. Hair-services franchise economics work at low absolute AUV because the cost structure scales down proportionately — small salon footprints, lean staffing, low equipment cost.
Year-one new-salon revenue typically lands at 65-80% of the system median — roughly $195K-$240K — as local-market customer base builds. Hair-services ramps faster than membership-model franchises because the visit cycle is short (every 4-8 weeks), so repeat-customer compound effects materialize within months.
Item 7 reports a total initial investment range of $1,000 to $353,460. The wide range reflects two distinct paths: existing-salon acquisition (very low capital — sometimes $1K-$30K) and new-build greenfield ($150K-$350K). The franchise fee is $12,500. Royalty is 4% of gross revenue; ad fund contribution is 5%.
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