Jeff McKay • Little Rock, Arkansas
Matt Houle • Phoenix, Arizona
Don Scott & Rob Folk • Scottsdale, AZ
Don Scott and Rob Folk met back in 2010 when their daughters attended the same preschool in Peoria and quickly became golf buddies and friends along the way. Don is an Engineering graduate from Rutgers University, and completed his MBA program through Arizona State University. Rob obtained an Education degree from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada before moving down to the desert southwest and lived in Las Vegas and Phoenix working with MetLife Bank and First Horizon Home Loans. With both of them having a background in Real Estate, and having been affected by the subprime bubble correction, they were exploring which businesses would be a good field to get into, with being somewhat recession proof high on the priority list. On one of the many golf outings, the benefits of owning a V’s Barbershop came up, and after debating it from many angles, the upside was very apparent. Don and Rob liked the V’s model so much, they have committed to opening three V’s Barbershops in the future, with their first one already up and running at the Scottsdale Promenade Shopping Centre.
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Lucia Crawford • Franchisee since November 2011 • Joplin, MO
In 2009, my husband and I had purchased a vacant building in foreclosure next door to his mortgage business. We didn’t have any plans for it, only wanted control of what business occupied the property since it was next door. The building was a 100 year old home that had been previously renovated into a salon with room rentals for stylists. After doing a little market research, we felt that the market was saturated with salons and that to re-open it as a salon provided little to no market differentiation. So we turned to barbershops.
As fate would have it, that weekend we attended a Springfield Cardinals game with some friends and shared our thoughts about turning this vacant building into a barbershop. One of our friends knew a V’s Franchisee that had just opened a shop in Billingham, Washington. What she described about this Franchise fascinated me, so that when I got home I immediately looked it up online. One thing led to another, and it wasn’t long before we were in Phoenix, Arizona, meeting with Jim and Emily and touring their flagship store in Arcadia. Immediately I loved the authentic, upscale barbershop feel V’s offered and saw a perfect fit – the timeless tradition of barbering being established in a 100 year old home. We decided to partner with V’s Barbershop and have since built the most beautiful shop in the Franchise.
From a business standpoint, some would question a decision to purchase a franchise when there is no brand recognition in a small town like Joplin, Missouri, but I felt that the value was in the barbershop experience that Jim and Emily brought to the table. It was evident from the beginning that V’s attention to detail in every aspect of the business would save me from many costly mistakes. Over the years this has proven to be a very valuable investment. Challenges arise, and Jim and Emily always make themselves available to me for discussion and resolution. Together we have built a stellar team of barbers who get to pursue their passion for barbering in an authentic and beautiful barbershop, all while exceeding financial goals. I am very proud to be associated with V’s Barbershop, and if you stepped into the Joplin V’s location, you would experience why.
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Scott McDaniel • Franchisee since March 2011 • Del Mar & Carlsbad, CA
I’m often asked “Why did you open a barbershop?”, and while the answer could be simply “it seemed like a good idea at the time”, the real answer is more complex…
My first experience with V’s was back in 2002 or so. I was visiting friends in Phoenix, and when the wives went off to the spa for the day, the men were discussing our activities (golf, motorcycles, shooting), when our host said “Let’s go get haircuts.” After the initial abuse (verbal and physical), we allowed him to drag us all to V’s Barbershop in Kierland Commons, where we all got The Works, and it was an eye opening experience. I had a sort of “flashback” of going to the barbershop with my dad, and this place brought back good memories. From that point on I sought out barbershops where I could get a hot-lather shave all over the world (I was traveling quite a bit for work during those years).
Anyway, the idea of getting into the business kind of percolated on the back burner for years and years. It wasn’t until 2010, when the start-up I was with got purchased, that I took stock of my life and what I was doing versus what I wanted to do. I knew that in the areas I was living and working in there was really no competition to the services/experience of a high-end barbershop. So I researched the business/industry, I went through the franchising exploratory process on 4 different companies, and finally came back full cycle to V’s Barbershop as my preferred partner. V’s was/is just the right size for a businessman such as myself to be heard and make an impact on the growth of the brand, while still getting the operational support needed to start and grow a business in an industry never before explored.
I opened my first shop in 2011, my second shop in 2015, and am looking into continuing to grow the market and presence of V’s Barbershop in the San Diego area in the coming years.
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Elijah & Teedra Bernard • Franchisees since March 2015 • Houston, TX
In 2012, Teedra and I discovered V’s Barbershop via the internet. I was commuting back and forth to Houston, TX from New York City and was in search of a barbershop that specialized in straight razor shaving. As this skill set was not very popular among traditional African American barbershops, I constantly found myself going to back to New York where I had been going to the same barbershop for nearly 4 years. After my first experience at the River Oaks V’s Barbershop location in Houston, I was completely amazed with the V’s Barbershop brand and after several visits the idea of owning my own V’s Barbershop began to form. Teedra and I had been reviewing several small business opportunities for about two years however, none of them resonated with me at the level of V’s. The combination of the old world classic experience, simplicity of the business model and access to the key decision makers within V’s Corporate made the decision easy. At every step of the way prior to purchasing our franchise, I could simply pick up the phone and call Mr. V and he never once didn’t have time to answer a question large or small. Furthermore, throughout the real estate search, lease negotiations and buildout, Mr. V and the V’s Corporate team were there every step of the way providing support and encouragement.
The franchise has “Family” feel to it and the support you receive is just that, “Family” in every aspect from Franchise Sales, Operations, Marketing, Training, Finance and Support. The V’s team takes complete ownership of issues and are highly accessible. Our 1st year has been incredible, while our start up was slower than we would have liked, after about 3 or 4 months in, when our marketing efforts begin to take shape and we found the RIGHT combination of barbers we have since met or exceeded all our core financial objectives and business is steadily growing. We are currently evaluating the possibility of opening a second V’s location and look forward to bringing this great brand to another area of Houston in the near future.
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Marla Hansen • Franchisee since March 2015 • Bellingham, WA
My V’s Experience started out working along side Evah Thurman, the previous owner of the shop which I now currently own. I worked in and out of the shop for over a year and became familiar with V’s and what they are about. When Evah moved out of state and decided to sell, I thought long and hard about the opportunity that had presented itself to me. I was at a point in my life where I wanted to take something on and have an opportunity to grow. I am a licensed cosmetologist and it was always a dream to run my own shop. I was familiar with the industry and this shop, so it seemed like a great opportunity. After making the big decision, I made the leap, and purchased the V’s Barbershop in Bellingham Washington. It was all pretty smooth sailing after that. Since I had already worked for the previous owner, I knew most of the ins and outs of the shop. However, there was plenty of additional stuff I would be learning as an owner and the franchise was great to work with on that. They are very helpful in every aspect and they are all very personable. Being that I was only 28 at the time of purchase, not once did they make me feel like I was too young to take something on like this. Even though V’s is a franchise with many locations, it doesn’t feel that way. They are genuinely concerned with what you may need help with or what’s happening at your location. There isn’t a time where I feel like I can’t email, text, or phone them. Starting a business can be hard and with their help it did not feel that way. They continue to help me along the way of my business journey.
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