Global PaymentsGlobal Payments
Mandatorydit card, debit card, and gift card transactions, as well as any mobile payment technologies. Great Clips’ sole designated supplier for processing electronic payments is currently Global Payments. Glo
From the filings
+0.045% units YoYHQ-led decisions
Great Clips
Personal servicesGreat Clips' franchise agreement leaves no room to shop the core stack: franchisees must license ICS POS software, process payments through Global Payments (formerly Heartland), and run the Styleware iPad solution and, in new salons, the Verifone P630 terminal that Great Clips designates. The system spans 4,441 salons, all franchised, with 497 of the system's 895 mapped operators running multiple salons.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
4,441
4,441 franchised
Unit growth YoY
+0.045%
vs prior filing
AUV
$411K
Item 19, 2025
Royalty
6%
of gross sales
Ad fund
5%
national + local
Initial fee
$20K
per unit
Investment range
$188K–$420K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisor controlled
from the filing
Item 19
Claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
11%of gross sales (FY2026)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
3 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.
HeartlandGlobal Payments
Mandatoryrdware, as described more fully in Item 8. Electronic Payment Processing You must use the supplier designated by Great Clips, which currently is Global Payments (formerly known as Heartland Payments S
VerifoneVerifone
Mandatorying but not limited to credit card, debit card, and gift card transactions, as well as any mobile payment technologies. The current required payment terminal for new salons is the Verifone P630. You w
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
26 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 3 explicit no's; 5 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
Great Clips requires all franchisees to provide Great Clips with independent, unimpeded access to all sales, financial, marketing, customer, management and other business and operational data that we may specify pertaining to the Salon.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee will furnish to Great Clips all Salon Data, Great Clips, Inc. Franchise Agreement - 2026 21 information, books and records relating to the Salon as Great Clips periodically may require, on forms designated by Great Clips, including Franchisee’s (and, if requested, those of the Designated Operator[s]) sales…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
Great Clips has no affiliates who are currently approved suppliers, or the sole approved supplier, for any categories of goods and services.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 20
Exhibit C lists, to the extent known, the names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and web addresses of each trademark-specific franchisee organization associated with the franchise system being offered which we have created, sponsored or endorsed.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesFranchise agreement
Great Clips has the sole right to enhance, modify or change the platforms, software, hardware and/or
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Great Clips and its affiliates reserve the right to receive promotional allowances and rebates, commissions and other consideration from vendors in respect to services rendered or rights licensed to such persons, or sales effected by such persons.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
80Item 8
The goods, services, fixtures, equipment and inventory which you must purchase from Great Clips or suppliers designated by us in the operation of your Salon on an ongoing basis will account for approximately 80% to 85% of your purchases
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 8
The cost of evaluating a proposed new supplier may be charged to you or the supplier.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
You may make a written request for appointment of additional sources of supply for a given product or service, which may be granted if doing so would not create an inordinate number of suppliers of such product who are reasonably available to franchisees, and if such proposed supplier's product proves to comply with…
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee immediately must assign to Great Clips the telephone number used in the operation of the Salon, and Great Clips may direct that an intercept be placed on the Salon’s telephone number;
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee at all times must comply with all payment card industry data security standards (including, the PCI-DSS), laws, and regulations, including any laws applicable to abandoned property and escheat and will hold Great Clips harmless from any and all claims and liabilities.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
For the purpose of making periodic evaluations to ascertain if the provisions of this Agreement are being observed by Franchisee, including specifically those provisions related to proper brand delivery, Great Clips or its authorized representative have the right to enter the Salon, announced or unannounced, at all…
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
Great Clips reserves the right to periodically develop, issue and revise new policies and procedures relating to the operation of the franchised business, which will become part of 29 GREAT CLIPS® FRANCHISE DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT 2026 the System Standards.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee will not lease or otherwise acquire a site for the Salon until the site has been consented to by Great Clips.
Marketing
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee will be required to spend the then-current expenditure requirement for the grand opening.
Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee will fully participate in all promotional campaigns, contests, sweepstakes, special offers, customer loyalty program, or other programs, whether international, national, regional, or local in nature (including the introduction of new services or products, or new franchisees or other marketing programs…
Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee is required to join and continuously participate in the local GREAT CLIPS® cooperative organization (“Co-op”) authorized or designated by Great Clips
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must carry GREAT CLIPS® exclusive brand haircare products in your Salon and must purchase these products from suppliers designated by Great Clips.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
To ensure consistent quality of services and products throughout the GREAT CLIPS® System, you must purchase only supplies, fixtures, equipment, inventory, advertising and sales promotion materials and signage that have been designated by Great Clips.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee will use and install only the payment processing system as Great Clips may designate.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
You are required to make payment of the Continuing Franchise Fee, Continuing Advertising Fee, the Recruiting Technology Fee, as well as all other fees payable by you to (or collected from you by) Great Clips via automatic bank withdrawal.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesItem 8
You will be required to offer Gift Cards, Value Cards, or similar prepaid cards (collectively, “Gift Cards”) to customers for use as gift certificates and promotional cards or store credit.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must install and use the electronic data processing and communications hardware and software, including voice mail systems, computers, salon technology systems, and network and hardware equipment as Great Clips may designate.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
Great Clips requires all franchisees to provide Great Clips with independent, unimpeded access to all sales, financial, marketing, customer, management and other business and operational data that we may specify pertaining to the Salon.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
We reserve the right to require any franchisee, including purchasers of an existing GREAT CLIPS® salon, to re-attend training sessions.
Is attendance at an annual convention or conference mandatory for the franchisee?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee, its General Managers, and managers are expected to attend all such meetings conducted by Great Clips during the term of this Agreement.
The filing answers no to 3 questions
- Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?Item 11
- Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Item 6
- Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?Item 15
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
Formal HQ procurement; C-suite sponsor + cross-functional committee + IT/security/legal; often PE-backed.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- With 298 active personal services brands, I can't see which ones are growing or have the tech gaps my product fills, so I waste weeks chasing the wrong targets.A rep burning 10 hours/week on manual research at $50/hr loses $26,000/year. FranCloud's fit_scoring and corpus_search surface high-fit brands in seconds, reclaiming that time for selling.
- 63.5% of personal services brands mandate no POS system, but I can't identify the 108 that do without digging through hundreds of FDDs.Manually reviewing one FDD takes 3+ hours. At 108 targets, that's 324 hours. FranCloud's tech_landscape reveals POS mandates instantly, turning a $16,200 research slog into a single query.
- 91.6% of brands don't mandate a CRM, but the 25 that do are hidden in static reports, delaying my outreach to high-intent prospects.Landing one CRM-displacing deal in this segment can yield $30k+ ARR. FranCloud's find_lookalikes pinpoints those 25 brands and their peers, accelerating pipeline by months.
The vendor opportunity at Great Clips
Great Clips operates 4,441 salons, all of them franchised, with franchised outlets essentially flat (up 0.05%) year over year. Item 19 of the FDD makes a financial performance representation: 2,376 reporting 2025 salons with sufficient expense data, out of 4,158 eligible to be open the full period, averaged an Item 19 figure of $410,783. Of the system's 895 mapped operators, 497 run more than one salon — including 14 operators with 25 or more — making multi-unit operators a meaningful secondary buying center alongside headquarters.
Who controls software purchasing
Great Clips' headquarters controls the core software stack directly. Item 11 makes ICS (Innovative Computer Software) the sole licensed provider of POS software, requires the Styleware iPad solution in every salon, and obliges franchisees to activate and honor Net Check-In and any other customer-facing technology Great Clips develops. President and CEO Robert D. Goggins and CFO Rachelle M. Johnson head that side of the business.
Tech named in the FDD, and what is actually required
Global Payments — formerly Heartland Payment Solutions — is the mandated processor for all electronic payments, including credit, debit, gift-card and mobile transactions, and the current required payment terminal for new salons is the Verifone P630. Franchisees must also purchase or rent a Meraki MX68-CW router and pay The Foundation, the sole designated network and hardware managed services provider, separate monthly fees for network and hardware management (currently $20.99), iPad mobile-device management ($5 per iPad), optional Management iPad licensing ($2.75 per device), and router maintenance ($26). Stored Value Solutions (SVS) is the sole designated administrator of the required gift card program.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 runs on designated suppliers: purchases from Great Clips or its designated suppliers account for an estimated 90% to 95% of a new salon's setup purchases and 80% to 85% of ongoing purchases, covering exclusive-brand haircare products, POS software licensing, and electronic-payment processing. Item 17 of the FDD covers Great Clips' renewal, transfer and termination terms.
How to read the Great Clips FDD
The embedded viewer below carries Great Clips' 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document in full, including the Item 11 technology and Item 8 supplier-restriction language summarized above.
Talk to FranCloud for a ranked list of franchise systems like Great Clips where the technology mandate and multi-unit operator base line up with your product.
Questions vendors ask
Great Clips, answered from the filing
Great Clips' headquarters controls the core mandate directly: ICS is the sole licensed POS software provider and Global Payments the sole designated payment processor for the whole system. President and CEO Robert D. Goggins and CFO Rachelle M. Johnson lead the corporate side a vendor would need to approach for anything outside that mandated stack.
Great Clips mandates ICS (Innovative Computer Software) as the sole licensed POS software provider, the Styleware iPad solution, Global Payments (formerly Heartland) for all electronic payments, the Verifone P630 terminal for new salons, and a Meraki MX68-CW router. Franchisees must also activate any Net Check-In or other customer-facing technology Great Clips develops.
4,441 total salons across the United States and Canada, all franchised, in the personal-services segment, led by Texas, Florida, California, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Item 8 runs on designated suppliers: purchases from Great Clips or its designated suppliers make up an estimated 90-95% of a new salon's setup costs and 80-85% of ongoing purchases, including exclusive-brand haircare products, the POS license from ICS and payment processing from Global Payments.
Item 17 of the FDD covers Great Clips' renewal, transfer and termination terms. With franchised outlets essentially flat year over year and 497 of 895 mapped operators running multiple salons, near-term technology conversations are more likely with multi-unit operators than with new-unit growth.
The embedded PDF viewer below carries Great Clips' 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document.
Source
Read the filing itself
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FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Great Clips files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
895 operators run 4,182 mapped locations. 497 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit398
2–9 units371
10–24 units112
25+ units14
Top states by locations
| TX | 471 |
|---|---|
| FL | 320 |
| CA | 314 |
| OH | 306 |
| PA | 161 |
Related Personal services brands
Primary franchise filings · updated September 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.