Great Clips CEO, who built the company into the country’s largest salon chain, is retiring

Steve Hockett, who as CEO made Great Clips the largest hair salon brand in the country, is retiring.

His successor, Rob Goggins, has been by his side the whole time as Bloomington-based Great Clips’ president and chief operating officer.

“I‘m excited for where Great Clips can go under the leadership of Rob, and the senior leadership team,” Hockett said in an exclusive interview. ”I walk out with my head high, believing in the future, loving franchising."

Hockett, 64, has had several stints at Bloomington-based Great Clips. He was an early franchise owner. And though that salon failed, Hockett became a believer in the franchise business model.

He soon joined the corporate staff. He left in 2002 to pursue other franchising opportunities and then returned at the request of the company’s then-longtime CEO and current vice chair, Rhoda Olsen.

Hockett became CEO in 2018.

His successor, Goggins, 56, is also a longtime corporate employee. He was promoted to president when Hockett became CEO.

When Hockett became CEO in 2018, the company had 4,100 salons, all of them franchised. Hockett oversaw the growth of more stores but also shepherded the business through the COVID-19 pandemic, which was especially hard on salons and other retail companies.

The mandated closures of salons ended Great Clips’ 14-year streak of consecutive quarterly sales growth.

Despite enduring what Hockett called a meteor event for the industry, Great Clips has emerged stronger.

Goggins said that during the pandemic, the entire management team and employees at Great Clips were focused on helping franchisees survive, but they were also looking ahead to explore ways to thrive while embracing the 100% franchise model that Great Clips has always followed.

So the team got to work redesigning the website and salons and planning a new loyalty program to work with the app, added virtual training for stylists and built a new scheduling system, he said.

“The Steve and Rob franchisee video, number 73, will be recorded next week,” Hockett said.

The chain immediately started growing again. The new quarterly growth streak is now up to 16 quarters.

“I like our chances to get to 56 quarters again,” Hockett said.

Revenue from franchise fees grew 24% from 2017 to $115.2 million in 2024, while systemwide revenue increased to $1.8 billion. Its 630 franchisees now have 4,439 salons in all 50 states and four Canadian provinces.

Great Clips’ technology has helped its growth, including an app with online check-ins. The company had 10 million downloads by May 2019, and in May 2025, the app had been downloaded 25 million times.

It also forced other salon systems to play catch-up in the technology department while Great Clips continues to invest in the area.

Changing consumer behaviors has also helped Great Clips officials to become better listeners.

“Customers are more emboldened to share what they’re thinking today than they were five years ago,” Hockett said.

The company is using that feedback and data from the app to build AI applications to help stylists and salons become more efficient.

“We’re pretty excited about where AI can be integrated into Great Clips even more robustly down the road,” Hockett said.

All of these changes, and the corresponding revenue bumps, have convinced Goggins that the franchisee model should stay.