Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500® in 2021 rankings:
Ranked by Forbes
as one of
America’s best employers
for women in
2019, 2020 & 2021
Making Minnesota a cut above the rest
Dinkytown is a Minnesota treasure, a neighborhood cherished for grassroots initiatives and visionary ideas. It’s only fitting that in 1982, this vibrant Minneapolis community was also the birthplace of the Great Clips® brand. Featuring no-frills, value-priced haircuts, the inaugural Dinkytown salon experienced immediate success.
Fast forward nearly 40 years, and that single, startup salon has grown to become the world’s largest salon brand, with more than 4,400 hair salons across the United States and Canada. More than 1,100 Great Clips® franchisees operate salons in all 50 U.S. states and 4 Canadian provinces; and they employ nearly 30,000 licensed stylists.
Today, Minnesota-based Great Clips, Inc. (“Great Clips”) embraces the responsibility of doing good by doing great things. This is operationalized through the company’s Great Deeds® program, which actively encourages corporate staff, along with franchisees and their salon staff, to serve and support local communities. One example is the company’s partnership with the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity (MBCRE). Three members of the Great Clips leadership team serve on MBCRE committees, which are working to provide better outcomes for Black Minnesotans through allyship, investment in employment opportunities and career development.
Great Clips also values preparing youth for employment. As a partner to Best Prep, a nonprofit organization that helps students achieve business, career, and financial literacy skills, Great Clips employees have mentored a classroom of high school students for the last two years. Weekly emails provide the students with insight into employment at the Minnesota company, culminating in an in-person learning event to celebrate the mentorship.
Support for Minnesota students continues with Great Clips’ work with Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest (JA). This year, the company participated in JA’s virtual job fair to provide students with information about corporate job opportunities that might someday be available to them, and Great Clips President Rob Goggins is a member of the board. And through Christo Rey Jesuit High School’s Corporate Work Study Program, Great Clips welcomes 16 students to the corporate office in Edina each year, providing the opportunity for these Minnesota students to gain exposure to “real world” work situations.
Affecting positive change and strengthening the fabric of Minnesota requires financial investment, too. In addition to Best Prep and JA, Great Clips has financially supported the Children’s Minnesota Foundation, which provides world-class health care to children, regardless of their ability to pay, and Great Clips CEO Steve Hockett is a member of the foundation’s board.
As Hockett shared, “We are committed to putting the care of our customers and communities first, so that Minnesota may continue to serve as one of our nation’s leaders, offering great jobs, educational opportunities, and community resources to all people.”