Married With Franchises - 25 Years Of Care And Nurturing

Area Developer:

Getting laid off by United Airlines in the 1982 recession was perhaps the best business move Regina and Jerry Lillie ever made (even if they didn’t actually make it themselves).

‘Gina’s brother, who was already associated with Supercuts in Texas, was very impressed with the franchise,’ says Jerry. ‘In trying to help our situation, he recommended it to us.’ Since they were living in California near the founders, in they went for a chat. They liked the concept and the people behind it, but the Supercuts brand was so hot at the time that all the territories in California were taken. That’s when it paid off to be a former airline employee.

‘We could still fly with United, so as long as we could fly there we didn’t care where it was,’ says Regina. They ended up with Spokane, where they had been only once, to visit the World’s Fair in 1974. They finally moved there in 1993, but have kept a condo in San Francisco.

‘It was the result of needing a job and buying a job. Obviously, we did some due diligence,’ including getting their hair cut, says Jerry. ‘We ended up putting together a partnership of our brothers and sisters.’ They called it Sisbro, LP.

‘Fortunately it’s a biz where you’re not in the stores every day,’ says Jerry. ‘We don’t cut hair, as do virtually none of the franchisees. You’re sort of in the way if you’re in the store. Other than making sure they look good and checking things out from time to time, there’s nothing much to do there if you don’t cut hair.’

The brand wasn’t nearly as well-known in Spokane. When they advertised for employees, many thought they were applying to work in a butcher shop. Regina recalls the chaos of interviewing amidst the renovation of a former plumbing supply store, with jackhammers and carpenters banging all around while they showed pictures to applicants of what the salon would look like when done.

‘The whole place was really trashed and had to be gutted,’ says Regina. ‘We chose it because the store was so extremely visible from the street and near a highly populated residential section and had good car traffic. We were told by successful franchisees that was what you looked for in a successful location.’

They were looking to hire 8 stylists and had 42 applicants; for 3 receptionist positions they had 300. Amidst the clatter, they interviewed them all. One of the eight stylists they hired was a 20-year-old named Sally, fresh out of beauty school. Today she’s their regional manager and her daughter is now an employee too, cutting hair. Continue reading the story…