Great Clips is a hair salon franchise with over 3,700 locations across the United States and Canada. It is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2013, it had system-wide sales of $1.03 billion.
The first Great Clips salon opened, under the name Super Clips, near the University of Minnesota campus on September 22, 1982. Great Clips salons specialized in no-frills, low-priced haircuts and found immediate success with their first three salons, which opened over a span of three months.
In early 1983, founders Steve Lemmon and David Rubenzer sought out a third partner in Ray Barton to spearhead Great Clips’ expansion and franchising.
The first franchised Great Clips salon opened for business on July 16, 1983 in Brooklyn Center, MN. The company grew from 150 franchised salons in 1988 to 1,000 by 1997. The 2,500th salon was opened in 2006. The first franchisees, Mary Lou Barton (Ray Barton’s wife) and Marylu and Roger Ledebuhr are still Great Clips franchisees today. The Ledebuhrs opened the 3,000th Great Clips salon in 2011.
The Great Clips 250 benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America is a NASCAR Xfinity Series race that takes place at Michigan International Speedway. First held in 1992, the race was a 200 miles (320 km) event from its inception through 1999, and was extended to 250 miles starting with the 2000 race, it is held the day before the Sprint Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400.
The 2007 CARFAX 250 was the first-ever carbon neutral stock car event. Through partnerships with The Conservation Fund and Carbonfund.org, Carfax offset all carbon emissions generated by the race, including carbon emissions from fans attending the race.
The DAV 200 Honoring America's Veterans Presented by Great Clips is a NASCAR Xfinity Series event held at the Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
The race was first run in 1999 as the Outback Steakhouse 200. It became the Bashas' Supermarkets 200 in 2002. Following realignment of the two Xfinity Series races, the Arizona 200 took over the November slot. Brad Keselowski is the most recent winner of the event.