Roark Capital Group has made a minority investment in blowout chain Drybar as the business continues its expansion.
“The experience and resources they provide will be enormously valuable as we continue to expand across the globe,” said Drybar chairman and co-founder Michael Landau. Drybar has more than 60 locations in the U.S. — in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The business is opening a salon in Las Vegas on July 1.
“Drybar is an innovative and differentiated brand with a tremendous track record of growth,” said Steve Romaniello, managing director at Roark Capital. “We look forward to supporting the team and the continued growth of the Drybar brand.”
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Drybar has expanded through new salon outposts as well as through its product line, which includes both styling tools and products. The business’s products are sold in Nordstrom and Sephora, and rolled out in Ulta in April.
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“We’ve been really careful with our expansion to make sure we’re doing it slowly,” Drybar founder Alli Webb previously told WWD. She added that the business planned to open 10 to 12 more locations by the end of 2016. Drybar’s products business is set to grow 73 percent year-over-year and comprise 26 percent of the company’s revenue for 2016, the company has said.
Roark, headquartered in Atlanta, has a history of investing in franchised and multiunit companies in the retail, restaurant, consumer and business services sectors. The firm is currently invested in Anytime Fitness, Arby’s Atkins Nutritionals, Batteries Plus Bulbs, Carl’s Jr., Corner Bakery, Driven Brands, Focus Brands (which owns Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, Carvel Ice Cream, Cinnabon and other businesses), Hardee’s, Massage Envy, Waxing in the City and other companies.
This isn’t Drybar’s first foray into private equity — the company accepted a $16 million investment from Castanea Partners in 2012. Piper Jaffray & Co. advised Drybar on the Roark investment.