Sola Salon Studios, the world's largest salon studios franchise, is reporting significant growth in 2020, opening 60 new locations and signing 43 franchise agreements to develop 113 new salons throughout the U.S. and Canada over the next several years. Of the 43 new agreements, 26 were signed with new franchisee groups and all but one joined after nationwide shutdowns of salon businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This strong performance through an unprecedented year, coupled with the brand's reputation as the leading salon studios franchise, has positioned Sola for tremendous future growth as it remains on track to eclipse 600 locations in 2021.

"While 2020 brought unique challenges to Sola and our industry overall, it presented the opportunity for us to band together and unite in ways we never thought of before, and showed us just how resilient we are," said Christina Russell, CEO of Sola Salon Studios. "Reflecting on the last year, I am humbled and incredibly proud of our home office team, our franchisees and every single one of the 16,000+ independent beauty professionals that call our brand home. When I think of all we accomplished during a time of such uncertainty, I have never been more excited and optimistic about for our brand's future."

In addition to its ongoing growth and development success, Sola Salon Studios saw a +15% increase in beauty professional lead volume year-over-year in 2020. In contrast to open concept footprints found in most traditional salons, each of Sola's locations features a collection of 20-40 boutique, move-in-ready salon studios with floor-to-ceiling walls and glass doors that fully close, allowing stylists to operate their individual businesses in the safety of a completely private one-on-one space. Sola's unique layout and intentional design resonated with many beauty professionals and their clients as they navigated updates related to COVID-19 and ongoing social distancing measures stemming from the pandemic.

In July 2020, Sola Salon Studios became the flagship brand of newly-formed holding company, Radiance Holdings with CEO Christina Russell at the helm. Radiance, which represents a collection of premier brands in the beauty, wellness and self-care sector, is comprised of Sola and The Woodhouse Day Spa, a high-end day spa franchise, as well as BeautyHive™, an e-commerce platform providing a convenient, economical way for Sola independent beauty professionals to get their backbar supplies without the hassle of distributors or store visits. BeautyHive™ is the latest platform that Sola has created for its stylists with the goal of making their lives easier and helping their businesses grow. Since its inception 17 years ago, Sola has remained committed to technology and innovation to better support its rapidly growing community of more than 16,000 independent beauty professionals. With proprietary tools like its SolaGenius application and BookNow website feature, the brand continues to be regarded as the leading franchise concept in the salon studios sector.

Throughout the year, Sola Salon Studios was also recognized among the franchise industry's most prestigious accolades, most recently ranking #26 on Entrepreneur magazine's highly competitive Franchise 500 and being named the leader of the salon suites category for the second year in a row. The brand was also awarded a Franchise Innovation Award by Franchise Update Media in the Most Innovative Use of Technology: Services category for its BookNow website feature, which helped generate 6,000 client bookings in 2019, equating to more than $300,000 in stylist revenue. Additionally, Sola placed among the 40 smartest-growing brands in Franchise Times' annual Fast & Serious project.

Sola Salon Studios leads the largest segment within the $64 billion salon services market, more than doubling in size in the last five years. As the most dominant brand in the segment, Sola Salon Studios has created a turnkey solution for beauty professionals to explore a better life as an entrepreneur, and has led the way as the largest salon studios concept.

Sola is driven by its desire to use real estate to help aspiring business owners achieve their dreams and is looking for franchisees who feel the same way. The brand is actively seeking qualified candidates to help grow its brand footprint throughout the U.S., Canada and beyond. To learn more about franchise opportunities with Sola Salon Studios, contact Lori Merrall, director of franchise development, at [email protected] or visit www.solafranchising.com.

ABOUT SOLA SALON STUDIOS
In 2004, Sola Salon Studios was established with the opening of its first location in Denver, Colorado. Now with more than 545 locations open in the U.S., Canada and Brazil, Sola is proud to offer 16,000+ independent beauty professionals the freedom and benefits of salon ownership without the risk and overhead of opening a traditional salon. Its innovative salon model empowers hairdressers, estheticians, nail techs, massage therapists and other like-minded professionals to take control of their lives and their careers. Sola provides beauty professionals with beautiful, fully-equipped salon studios alongside the support and tools they need to launch their salon business in no time. For more information, please visit www.solasalonstudios.com.