Seasoned Great Clips Franchisee Utilizing Past Experience to Grow Brand in Albany, New York

For 15 years now, Great Clips has played an important role in Gaurav Nawani’s life.

In 2001, Jay and Madhu Nawani, Gaurav’s parents, opened their first Great Clips salon in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their location thrived the moment it opened its doors to the community. But because the area was a market with a lot of existing salons owned by several franchisees, they knew finding new locations would be challenging. That’s when the Nawanis decided to take a different approach—acquiring existing salons. Today, the husband and wife team own 10 Great Clips salons—eight in the Cincinnati market and two in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market.

Witnessing the success that his parents had with Great Clips firsthand, Gaurav was eager to be a part of the growing family business. But as a second-generation Great Clips franchisee, his goal was a little different than his parents’—he wanted to expand the brand into the up-and-coming Upstate New York territory.

“It was always a goal of our family to expand with Great Clips, but in Cincinnati there really was no more room to grow—it’s incredibly saturated,” Gaurav said. “I decided to shift my attention to the Northeast because I saw so much potential there. It’s an area that still has plenty of room for the brand to grow.”

In particular, Gaurav believes Albany, New York is an important city to target. Because of the area’s booming tech and biomedical industries, more and more families are relocating to Albany in pursuit of new job opportunities. That’s a good sign for brands like Great Clips, which is a popular option for on-the-go families.  

“Albany is a major market for Great Clips to get into. When I factored in what’s going on in the Albany area—especially the business and demographics—I saw what a great opportunity this was to help Great Clips expand in the Northeast,” Gaurav said. “Backed by the full support of the Great Clips corporate team and my past experience with the brand in Cincinnati, I went into this new venture confident that that the brand would do extremely well.”

Gaurav is now in the process of finalizing lease negotiations for his first Albany location, and he hopes to get the salon up and running by the beginning of 2017. His ultimate goal is to open multiple Great Clips salon throughout Albany in the coming years.

“At Great Clips, it’s all about steady and sustainable growth. They do this by building up an infrastructure first, then expanding slowly—one store at a time. This kind of carefully thought out growth is what’s put Great Clips at the top of the industry. Today, it’s a brand name that’s recognized in just about every community in the United States. That’s no accident,” Gaurav said. “Great Clips by far has the best franchise support system—their corporate team is there to help you along the way. I’m eager to continue working alongside a company that has been a part of my family’s life for nearly two decades.”