// WAX ON, WAX OFF
SOUTH FLORIDA’S OWN DAVID COBA, FOUNDER OF EUROPEAN WAX CENTER, IS MORE THAN JUST SKIN DEEP.
South Florida’s own David Coba, founder of European Wax Center, is more than skin deep.
It’s no exaggeration to say that David Coba was born to run a beauty business. “My brother [Josh] and I used to sit and play in the middle of the salon at two years old,” Coba says of his father’s shop in Aventura. While Coba and his siblings observed the daily rhythms of the grueling beauty business, he also took note of what he would do differently, if given the chance. “Growing up in the industry had a lot of value,” Coba says. “I loved that it was my dad’s thing, but I also got a glimpse of things I didn’t like. There’s a work-hard, work-every-holiday [mentality]. When my brother and I got involved in the salon, I wanted to change that.”
Coba’s first foray into the business also came from his father, who is mostly responsible for introducing America to the concept of hard wax—a hair-removal method that doesn’t require cloth strips, the way that soft wax does (it’s also less painful, which is certainly a plus). But it was his children who saw the true moneymaking potential of the product, as clientele
quickly grew through word of mouth. Coba soon realized the business was robust enough to warrant its own brick and mortar, as demand had increased from 600 clients a week to 600 a day. The first European Wax Center broke ground in Fort Lauderdale in 2004, and it wasn’t long before its CEO Coba was opening dozens of stores across the country.
Today, there are over 600 franchises nationwide, with another 200 in development—but Coba is quick to point out that expansion is not his primary goal. “I try to continue on the same philosophy as we did from the beginning, which is, How do we make EWC better?” he says. A line of products, called Strut 365, aids that goal, allowing clients to exfoliate, moisturize, and protect their skin in between services.
The brand’s commitment to elevating the waxing experience is certainly one of the reasons behind its enormous success. “We say that our competitors remove hair. We’re not about what we remove, we’re about what we leave behind,” Coba says. “No matter who you are, when you walk into one of our centers, we are going to reveal your beautiful skin. And you are going strut out of our centers and share that message with the world.” Visit waxcenter.com for locations.
“WE’RE NOT ABOUT WHAT WE REMOVE, WE’RE ABOUT WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND.”
—DAVID COBA