WESTERN SKIES - March 5, 2005

*** SALONS FOR KIDS ***

ERIC WHITNEY: What started out as a casual conversation among three Colorado moms, has blossomed into a business so successful that the moms are now getting ready to sell franchises nationwide.

[SOUND: clippers cutting hair]

JEANNINE MILLER: Five-year old Drake is getting a Caesar style haircut. His stylist cuts his blonde hair short on the sides and spiky on the top.

HAIRSTYLIST VOICE: Can you close your eyes for me honey.

MILLER: Drake's dad Ken Hendricks didn't take his son to a barbershop or an adult salon. He took him to Lollilocks kids salon in Lone Tree, Colorado, a full-service salon exclusively for children.

KEN HENDRICKS: It is just fun to come with the cars and the kids stuff. We have been to a couple of other ones also. This is the one that he wanted to go to.

MILLER: And drake is not alone. On an average day, Lollilocks kids salon has about one hundred twenty customers. Former hairstylist Martine Yano opened Lollilocks in the fall of 2001, with two other young mothers.

MARTINE YANO: The three of us met in a playgroup and after conversation among all of the moms, they realized that there was a need for a full-service salon that would be exclusive to kids.

MILLER: Yano and her friends looked around and were surprised to discover that there weren't any salons in the Denver area catering exclusively to children.

YANO: We decided to take it one step further and say, what if we could do this? What if we could create a concept that would do really well in one of the most populated areas with young families and we were just wanting to put something together that was unique and answered the call to this area.

MILLER: The friends researched salons on the internet and considered buying a franchise.

YANO: We did research some nationwide franchises at that point to purchase one. And we felt as though we would have more freedom with our own concept obviously and there wasn't one that was a perfect fit for us.

MILLER: So they became partners and decided to invest $78,000 of their own money to start the business, and to retain control, and to not have the added pressure of a loan when they opened.

YANO: We crunched our idea from color scheme to name very early on. It was about an 18-month total process.

MILLER: Each brought different skills and talents to the business. Yano worked as a stylist. Anne Franklin was an elementary school teacher and Tammy Rohde had a business and marketing background that proved indispensable.

YANO: We had flyers, we had magnets on our cars which we are driving around town to all of the places that moms go.

MILLER: The owners also created a Lollilocks kids salon website.

YANO: Because of the website we had on-line appointment booking, and we had 24 appointments booked on our first day.

MILLER: Yano says people started asking early on about whether the salon was a franchise.

YANO: We've always been proud to say what it's an original concept, brought to its fruition by the three of us. And we decided early on in our partnership that we were going to get into the business and fund it ourselves and structure our own finances.

MILLER: On a typical day Lollilocks books services for Lolliboy cuts and Girlilocks cuts, $13.99 and $14.99 respectively, along with specialty services like a Lolli princess makeover party for birthday celebrations.

YANO: Our growth has been steady. Our weeks are predictable and we are staffed accordingly to our demand.

MILLER: A little more than three years after opening the salon, because they couldn't find a franchise to fit their needs, the owners are now offering franchises for sale. At the end of last year they sold their first franchise in Denver. And they have over fifty letters of inquiry from interested people nationwide.

For Western Skies I'm Jeannine Miller in Lone Tree, Colorado.