Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue I, 2014 | Page 46

MEGA

reconnect

By Kerry Pipes

But Wait, There’s More!

G

Three brands, four states, and plans to expand

rant Simon is a textbook example of a multi-unit franchisee who can’t sit still.
When we profiled Simon in
2008 (Q3), he was operating 18 Great
Clips salons in the Atlanta area. He was
doing well but had an itch for more,
and had just teamed up with fellow area
Great Clips franchisee Greg Thomas
(profiled in 2011, Q3) to purchase a
car wash business.
“It looked like a good opportunity,
so we did it,” says Simon. “We turned it
around and quickly sold it for a healthy

44

Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue I, 2014

Name: Grant Simon
Title: CEO
Company: LSGF Management
No. of units by brand: 39

Great Clips, 20 T-Mobile,
1 Smoothie King
Age: 49
Family: Sophie 14, Rebecca 19
Years in franchising: 20
Years in current position: 20

profit.” It was an omen of good things
to come. The two entrepreneurs invested their proceeds in Great Clips
salons outside their Atlanta market
and the growing began. Since the end
of 2008, Simon has opened 21 more
Great Clips salons in Georgia, Florida,
and Alabama through new builds and
acquisitions, bringing his total to 39.
He didn’t stop there, adding Smoothie King to his portfolio of brands.
He and Thomas bought a distressed
Smoothie King in Atlanta, turned it
around, and sold it. “That strategy