Online hair color company Madison Reed to open stores in Houston
Madison Reed, an online hair color company founded in 2013, plans to open its first two Color Bars in the Houston area as part of a national expansion into retail stores.
The San Francisco-based company, which sells what it says is salon-quality hair dye for $26.50 a box, now offers coloronly salon services for about half the price of a typical salon. That translates to $55 in Dallas-Fort Worth and soon Houston, and $60 in San Francisco and New York for roots-only color services.
The new stores, totaling about 2,000 square feet each, are set to open at LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch, 23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd. in Katy, on Oct. 24 and at Market Street-The Woodlands at 9595 Six Pines Drive on Oct. 28.
Madison Reed customers are primarily women from their mid-30s to 70, with an average household income of $90,000 and above, according to the company. In selecting real estate, the company seeks locations that are close not only to where customers live, but also jobs centers so busy clients can go before or after work.
“Those locations were spot on for us,” said CEO Amy Errett, who founded the company.
Errett, who is also partner at True Ventures focused on investments in consumer and e-commerce startups, sought to tap into the huge market for hair dye in a way that had not previously been done. To date, Madison Reed has raised $130 million in venture capital funding. Maveron, a venture capital firm founded by former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, was one of the first investors.
“Our product is designed to color your hair with the lowest chemical profile,” Errett said.
Madison Reed formulates its hair dye without commonly used chemicals found in some brands. The ingredients it avoided include ammonia, paraphenylenediamine (PPD), resorcinol, parabens, phthalates, gluten, sodium lauryl sulfate and titanium dioxide. The process uses technology to match a customer with the right hair color from among 56 options.
“We have a very sophisticated algorithm where you answer 14 questions in a quiz,” Errett said. “From there, we have over 10 million hair profiles. This algorithm has gotten really good at matching your recommended shade.”
Studies show that 52 percent of women who color their hair do so at home. Madison Reed aims to take a bigger piece of the market by selling products online, at Color Bar salons or through Ulta Beauty stores nationwide and online. Customers with recurring subscriptions get a discounted rate of $22 a box.
Whether applied in store or purchased online, Madison Reed products are designed to be an affordable luxury and convenient, Errett said. Clients can book same-day services online and will be able to purchase the same color formulations used at the salon for home use.
Madison Reed is the latest example of online retailers expanding through a brick-andmortar presence to grow sales and offer customers the opportunity to check out the product in person. Others include mattress retailer Casper, menswear store Untuckit and eyeglasses store Warby Parker.
After successful a pop-up in Manhattan in 2017, the brand has grown to nine stores in New York, the San Francisco Bay Area and most recently the Dallas-Fort Worth market. A recently announced agreement to offer franchise locations is expected to accelerate the expansion.
Madison Reed is targeting 100 corporate-owned stores and 500 franchise locations by the end of 2024. More stores are planned for Houston, but the timing and scope have not been determined.