Aussie business makes huge global move

Value hairdresser Just Cuts has become a go-to for many during the cost of living crisis and now this Aussie brand is targeting consumers in a new overseas market.

EXCLUSIVE

Value hairdresser Just Cuts has become a go-to for many during the cost of living crisis and now this Aussie brand is targeting consumers in a new overseas market.

CEO Amber Manning told news.com.au the company would open its first salons in Canada by September this year having signed up three franchisees.

The first three salons will open in the Calgary area, with the company currently in leasing negotiations with shopping centres.

Ms Manning said that Just Cuts hopes to have five salons in Canada by the end of 2024, growing to 10 by the end of 2025, all operated under a franchise model.

She said the Canadian expansion would initially focus on Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa before the company sets its sights further afield with an ultimate ambition for 200 salons in the country.

Just Cuts operates on a business model of no appointment, fixed price haircuts.

Ms Manning said Canada was “used to franchised brands” and had synergies with Australia, with a similar franchising culture and regulations.

She said that Just Cuts – a value hairdresser that only offers hair cutting services – had no direct competitors in the Canadian market.

She added that full service hairdressers charge around C$60-70 (A$67-78) for a haircut, while Just Cuts will be “very much in the value end of C$35-40 (A$39-45)”.

With Calgary located close to the US border, Ms Manning said the company has also received franchise enquiries from “across the border” but said that the US was a very different market, although she didn’t rule out a future expansion there.

“It’s not on the radar but I would never say never”, Ms Manning told news.com.au.

Amber Manning, CEO of Just Cuts said that a US expansion was “not on the radar but I would never say never”.

Another country that is on the Just Cuts radar is Singapore, where she said the business was close to a deal with a master franchisee and was fielding enquiries from shopping centre operators.

Across Australia, New Zealand and the UK Just Cuts operates more than 220 salons, with one in Taiwan.

It plans to open another five in New Zealand and another four in the UK over the next year.

Ms Manning said its value offering was resonating with consumers in all of its markets, where high inflation and cost of living pressures have become an issue, with trading up 15 per cent year on year.

She added that the company was benefiting from trends for consumers to save money by having colour services done at a full service salon and a cut at Just Cuts, or doing their own colour at home and having their hair cut at Just Cuts.

Just Cut’s value proposition is resonating with consumers during the cost of living crisis.

In the last financial year, it recorded turnover of $154 million, with a record 4.3 million clients.

Just Cuts was founded in Sydney in 1982 by Denis McFadden, based on the idea of no appointment, fixed price haircuts that filled the gap between barbers and full service salons.

It is now the largest hairdressing company in the Southern Hemisphere, and continues to trade on a model of no appointment, fixed price haircuts, with pricing for a style cut set at $42 regardless of gender, style or age.