Ah, the mullet. Not the fish, but the hairstyle. Short and spiky on top and long and flowing on the bottom.
The kind of personal fashion statement that says, defiantly: "I'm stuck in 1982, and please don't touch the top of my head, because it's thick with gel."
That year, a small hair salon called Great Clips opened on the University of Minnesota campus with the idea that customers need only pay for services rendered -- and at an affordable price.
On Friday, the Edina-based hair care chain opened its 3,000th salon, in Albert Lea. Great Clips now has more than 25,000 employees in 150 markets in the United States and Canada, plus 1,000 salon owners. Sales in 2009 were $762 million.
"In 1988, I set a goal to reach 3,000 salons, and everyone thought I was crazy. I was naive enough to believe we could do it, and we did," say Ray Barton, chairman and one of the early Great Clips executives.
The company celebrated the milestone Friday by offering free haircuts to the first 100 customers at the Blake Avenue salon in Albert Lea. The charge for haircuts at that location will be $2.99 until July 22 -- 1982 prices. Only now, you can check in online.
Janet Moore • 612-673-7752
