Drybar is a California-based chain of salons that solely provides a hair styling service known as blowouts. The company was founded in 2008 by Alli Webb.
History
In 2008, Alli Webb began a side business called Straight At Home, which provided an in-home hair experience. Webb quickly outgrew the one-woman operation and noticed a "huge hole" in her local market for solely hair blowouts, a concept which had already gained traction in larger cities such as New York City with brands like Blo. Along with her brother Michael Landau, former Vice President of Brand Marketing at Yahoo!, and her husband, Cameron Webb, former Creative Director at Secret Weapon Marketing, an ad agency, Alli co-founded what would become Drybar with a salon in Brentwood, California in 2010. The following year, along with the help of friends, they were able to raise $2.5 million in order to expand the business. Once the business expanded, Drybar looked to add investors as well as add to their board of trustees. They added Castanea Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, to their list of investors in January 2012. Paul Pressler, former CEO of GAP and President of Disney, became an investor and board member. Janet Gurwitch, the founder and former CEO of Laura Mercier Cosmetics, also became an investor and board member at Drybar. Drybar's motto is "No cuts. No color. Just blowouts." which is a reference to their primary service offering. Everything at Drybar is designed with the “bar vernacular” in mind. The cashiers are aptly called “bartenders” and hairstyles are named after cocktails such as the Cosmo, Mai Tai, or Manhattan. The idea behind this came from Webb who believed that “women to come in and have fun” and "what's more fun than going to your local bar?" Webb’s vision are present in the designs brought to life by architect, Josh Heitler. Heitler, principal of a boutique architectural firm and now partner in the company, came up with the design elements and look of Drybar. Instead of the typical salon set up, clients at Drybar “sit facing a U-shaped or single-stretch bar, with their backs to the mirrors,” which brings to mind sitting at a bar rather than being at a salon. The bars have flat-screen televisions which generally screen chick-flick movies. Aesthetically, all Drybars look roughly the same, due mainly to Heitler.
Locations
Drybar revenue grew from $1.5 million in 2010 to a revenue of $19 million in 2012 to $39 million in 2013. As of January 2016, Drybar has 66 locations in 11 states, Washington DC and Vancouver, British Columbia. As of November 2017, the number of locations has expanded to almost 90. As of October 2018, the company has over 100 locations and 3000 employees.
Products
Looking to increase revenue, Webb developed a line specifically for Drybar. In 2013, after testing the line in about 70 Sephora locations, Drybar then went ahead with 300+ Sephora shops and QVC to launch their line of products.
