Phenix Salon Suites takes multi-pronged approach to growth

Jason Rivera is intent on growing his business — and he’s got more than one strategy to do that.

Rivera and his wife, Gina, own Phenix Salon Suites, which provides upscale private suites functioning as fully equipped minisalons.

Stylists, nail technicians and other salon professionals rent the suites and operate as separate businesses.
Phenix Salon’s first location, with 22 suites, opened in 2007 at 1747 Briargate Blvd. A second, larger location opened last September at 2130 Vickers Drive. Both are fully occupied.

Rivera is looking to open a third location downtown, possibly by late summer. But corporate locations are only one track he’s following. Rivera is also looking to expand through franchising and joint ventures.

“We just released our franchising program,” Rivera said. “We have quite a bit of interest across the U.S.”

The first franchise location, he added, will likely be in the Atlanta area — “a lady who is in the industry and has two salons but wants to do a suite concept.”

Rivera also has a partner for a joint venture in Florida, with the goal of developing 25 or so locations there.

“We went in and studied that market,” he said. “It looks like a great opportunity for us to go in, get established and build the brand.”

In a franchise, the franchisee, who pays a fee for the right to operate in a certain territory, runs the business in that area. In a joint venture, a partner invests in the business and does not have a day-to-day role, Rivera said.

“We’ll go in, set up the property, run the property, and they sit back as an investor and get 45 percent of the profit.”

Phenix’s first joint venture will operate a bit differently, though, because Rivera’s partner is a longtime friend, Jerry Griffith, who plans a more hands-on role.

Griffith, who is leaving a management position with Enterprise rental car company, will oversee Phenix Salon Suites’ entry into Florida. For now, he’s working with a broker to identify properties in the Orlando area.

“We’re looking to explode here really soon,” Griffith said.

Griffith and Rivera have been friends since high school, when they lived outside Washington, D.C., and Griffith said the two share an entrepreneurial spirit.

Griffith said he was intrigued by “the opportunity to get in on the ground floor with a concept that’s really going to change the salon industry.”

Rivera, who sold his marketing business, J.C. & Associates, in December to focus on Phenix, wants to stay on all three growth tracks. He sees advantages and disadvantages to each.

“Obviously corporate development, there’s more risk for us,” he said. “You put in all the money, all the time.”
In addition to growing the core business, Rivera is developing a salon product line that he hopes to launch in the first quarter of next year. He’s relying on the expertise of his wife and her family.

Gina Rivera is a stylist who operates one of the suites at the Briargate Phenix Salon Suites and comes from a long line of hairdressers. Her father has been in the business for 40 years.

“What we did was basically put heads together and ask what kind of line can we do,” Jason Rivera said. The answer: high-end products that will be marketed directly to consumers.

Ten percent of profits from the line will go to a foundation Rivera and his wife plan to create for cancer research. Gina Rivera’s mother, who was also in the salon industry, died of pancreatic cancer in December.

The biggest challenge in moving ahead on all fronts, Jason Rivera said, “is just being disciplined, not being too aggressive.” He also cited access to capital.

He’s seeking to establish a good relationship with a local bank.

“I think we have a good business model,” he said. “We just have to get the word out there about what we’re doing.”
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Contact the writer at 636-0272.