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Sport Clips CEO plans to keep headquarters in Georgetown

70-year-old Gordon Logan grew up in a small town. That’s one of the reasons he likes Georgetown, and doesn’t have any plans to move the headquarters even though the company is quickly growing.

Sport Clips CEO Gordon Logan, 70, grew up in a small town. That’s one of the reasons he likes Georgetown, and doesn’t have any plans to move the headquarters even though the company is quickly growing.

"I see no reason to be headquartered anywhere else," said Logan.

Logan told KVUE his Sport Clips idea was filling a void in the market when he started the franchise more than 20 years ago.

"In the early 90s we noticed the number of barber shops were declining, there weren't a lot of young barbers coming along to replace the retiring barbers,” said Logan.

He also knew there was a special market for that MVP customer.

"We realized early on that a lot of men quite frankly don't know the difference between a fantastic haircut and just-an-okay haircut, as long as their side burns are even and their wife doesn't laugh at them when they're pretty cool ---- but everyone knows the difference between a mediocre experience and a really great experience,” said Logan.

At Sport Clips, that experience ranges from a hot towel to a neck massage to TVs with your favorite sports team.

"Before Sport Clips that was only available in really expensive salons so we brought a luxury experience at a really great value," said Logan.

A luxury experience that started in Austin. Logan opened his first salon in 1979 at Anderson Lane and Burnet called "Command Performance."

By 1993 he came up with the Sport Clips concept, and opened the first location at Burnet and 183. That store has now been relocated in the Arbor Walk at Braker and MoPac. In 1995 he began franchising.

"In franchising, if you have a successful concept, you can expand that concept much more quickly if it's on a franchise model, and I wanted to go from a local, to a regional, to a national brand as quickly as possible,” said Logan.

He told KVUE that he designed Sport Clips from day one to be a franchise.

Now they have 1,600 stores in all 50 states and five Canadian provinces. They're opening about 150 stores per year.

"I knew there were going to be knock-offs coming along behind us and I wanted to be first,” said Logan.

Now they’re expanding the 25,000-square foot Georgetown-based headquarters, adding a fifth building to the complex.

Company-wide they employ about 150 people on a support team, about half of whom are located in Georgetown.

When asked if he ever thought the company would grow to be this large, he relied, "People ask me that, I say 'Sure, I just didn't think it was going to take this long.'"

In the Georgetown headquarters you can see his true passion: cars. From a fire suit for his NASCAR sponsored team, to his classic car collection.

But it's back to business down the hall as new stylists learn the Sport Clips technique.

"Anything you took away from the class today,” said an instructor to the class.

Logan recently win the 2016 International Franchise Association Entrepreneur of the Year Award, an award previously won by the founders of Subway, Holiday Inn, and McDonalds.

"We had a plan and luckily it worked out,” said Logan.

When you point out his success, he gets a little bashful.

"Well Georgetown is a small town, and I've lived here a long long time and know everybody,” said Logan.

He feels his biggest accomplishment is the money they've raised for veterans.

"I really appreciate the sacrifice the veterans have made for us, and the least we can do is try to give back,” said Logan.

Logan served in the Air Force from 1969 to 1976. The company has raised $5 million for the VFW Foundation, helping servicemen and women call home for free.

They’ve handed out 700 scholarships for veterans transitioning to civilian careers, and help fund equine therapy for veterans.

Logan said the company also donates money to Red Cross and St. Baldrick’s, as well as creating a relief fund for Sport Clips employees in case they go through an unexpected tragedy. He said already they’ve awarded team members with almost $500,000.

So what's next? Logan said they've already launched a new concept for women, called Ventblotique.

"We have Sport Clips for the men and boys so we thought it was only fair to have a concept for the ladies," said Logan.

They have locations in Cedar Park, Austin, Waco and Las Vegas. He said they plan to start franchising it later this year.

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