Bishops Barber Shop, one of Portland’s fastest growing barbershops, is taking things national, says the owner Leo Rivera.
Leo is 37 years old, from the Fillippines, and is making waves in the Hair Cut industry, taking on the big guys like Super Cuts. He was recently quoted by the Oregonian, saying “I have fears every day,” Rivera said. “I wake up scared every day. I don’t want to wake up in 20 years and be Supercuts.”
Is there enough room in the industry for Bishops to go Nationwide?
Leo sure thinks so, it’s a $55 Billion industry and the typical American gets their hair cut every 4 to 6 weeks, spending over 80% of their money on the extra stuff. The Oregonian article also said: There are 850 CostCutters, with “a relaxed hair care experience with no appointments and no hassles;” 200 Pro-Cuts, where “you don’t have to pay very much for the look that you want;” and 2,100 Supercuts, where the mantra is “Style it up with a suped up cut from Supercuts.”
How Did Bishops Get Started?
Rivera, with no business experience, cobbled together $40,000 of his own money and friends’ to open his Hawthorne store. It attracted about a dozen shaggy customers its first month. But the company earned $600,000 its second year, and sales have increased sixfold since then.
Rivera’s business experience boils down to three main skills: hustling, gambling and sales. Specifically, he sells himself –to a circle of friends at upscale country clubs, to the lowlifes at Portland’s dingiest watering holes.
“I understand people,” Rivera said, explaining his success. “I’m really good at doing things that I don’t like, but what other people want. If it were up to me, the whole world would be strip clubs and dive bars.”
Treating His Business Like Family
A main concern is also keeping the Bishops family ethic strong, Farina said. By all accounts, working at Bishops is like having a dysfunctional but loving family. Some company employees have been there since Day One in a high-turnover industry.
Rivera knows just about each of his 80 employees by name. He’s familiar with their personal issues, for better or worse. As soon as Farina arrived at Bishops in 2005, she left on a family emergency for four weeks. Rivera paid her salary the entire time.
“I have great loyalty to Leo. He’s been like a cousin,” Farina said. “We have a good family here, and there’s a lot of trust.
“But the bigger it gets, the farther it gets from us.”
Bishops will debut at the West Coast Franchise Expo on Nov. 7. Within five years, the company hopes to have franchises in 15 markets in the U.S. and Canada and, eventually, more than 200 stores.
David Huether, Bishops’ director of franchising, said it’s a perfect time for Rivera to franchise. Real estate is cheap. The unemployed are looking for opportunities. But is there such a thing as too many Bishops?
“When McDonald’s had 7,000 stores in the 1970s, we said, ‘Geez, how can they build any more McDonald’s? Will people eat that many french fries?” Huether said. “Now, there are three times the number. So, obviously the answer is, yes and they can.”
Rivera prefers to let his minions handle the tough questions. He’ll take care of protecting the brand.
Tags: Barbershop, Bishops, Businesses
