Salon Service Group purchase delays HQ expansion

The best-laid plans are not set aside, but expanded. At least that’s the case for Springfield-based beauty-supply wholesaler Salon Service Group, which halted construction of its nearly $3.6 million headquarters this spring when it had the opportunity to expand its footprint.

Salon Service Group owners Gino and Dana Barbo closed May 1 on the purchase of industry peer Next Step Salon Consultants Ltd. in Carrollton, Texas, for an undisclosed amount.

“We’ve known the owners for quite a while. They had the same brands as we do, and they were looking to retire,” Gino Barbo said of the Keune and Kevin Murphy hair care lines. “We took the opportunity to go down there and put a business deal together and expand into that market.”

He said the company had roughly 30 employees, and around half of those positions were cut.

“We shut down its distribution center and kept its sales force. There were 16 salespeople, and we added two sales managers,” Barbo said, noting the warehouse positions were redundant as he builds a new distribution center in Springfield. “Our plan is to add three salespeople over the next 60 days.”

With the buyout and closure of the Texas distribution center looming, Barbo expanded construction plans on the fly for his headquarters being erected in north Springfield to 60,000 square feet from 45,000 square feet. He declined to disclose how much the new plans would add to the project cost.

Next Step was owned by Richard and Crystal Brafford. Richard Brafford, 68, said the move spells retirement for the couple, and he sold the 10-year-old company after building rapport with Barbo.

“I knew him by going to conferences every year,” Brafford said.

Barbo said the two companies were not competitors. Next Step sold exclusively to licensed cosmetologists.

“We were never in that market, and they worked exclusively in Texas,” Barbo said. “We just expanded our footprint.”

The acquisition pushes Salon Service Group’s footprint to 12 states and grows its employee count to over 150.

Barbo’s goal by the end of the year is to add three new clients in Texas and three more in the first quarter next year. He said the Next Step deal ought to help Salon Service add three or four new stores per year to the company’s client roster.

The company posted revenue of roughly $25 million in 2013, when it broke ground on a $4.2 million capital improvement plan that included adding 11 staff members. Barbo said Guaranty Bank helped pull off the deal by extending a line of credit.

The expansion project at 1520 E. Evergreen St., which fronts Interstate 44 near Glenstone Avenue, had been scheduled for completion this spring, and Barbo said the new estimated completion date is Oct. 15. Larry Snyder & Co. is serving as the general contractor, and Buxton Kubik Dodd Creative is the architect.

Rick Garner, a professional engineer with the city of Springfield’s Building Development Services, said new expansion plans had yet to be submitted to the city as of May 21.[[In-content Ad]]