European Wax Center

Coba brothers sold 70 percent to General Atlantic, a private equity firm based in New York. “Our typical format is a 1,200 to 1,500 sq. ft. center that has six or seven wax suites, providing waxing services for everything from legs to bikinis to underarms to brows. We have about 13 million individual customers per year and perform over 20 million services per year, with nationwide annual revenues nearing $700 million from a total system standpoint. Throughout our franchise network, there are in excess of 10,000 dedicated franchise associates and about 125 employees in corporate. We’ve done a white space exercise and we believe there’s an opportunity to expand the brand throughout the U.S. to three times the footprint in our current format. Given available whitespace in the US, this is where we are currently focused but also believe EWC has broader international appeal in the future. “The waxing service makes up 85 percent of our revenue. We also have our own proprietary product portfolio in all our centers and that rounds out the revenue curve. Most of those products are complementary to the waxing service, helping to take care of skin in between services. For example, this includes products that exfoliate and moisturize the skin, help prevent ingrown hairs, while some also contain a hair growth inhibitor unique to EWC. So, retail product is a significant part of our business, as well.” BVM: What is leading your amazing growth? Berg: “This is a very fractionalized business in the United States; we are the biggest player in the out of home market by about eight to nine times. The next biggest national waxing company in the industry has about 90 centers, compared to our 730. There are some regional players that have 40 stores, and the rest are waxing services provided in the back of a hair or nail salon, or a massage location. We have over 300 franchisees and a lot of them own two or three centers. 70 percent of our growth comes from our current franchisee base opening another center. We think that’s the best testament to the strength of the brand and the belief in it. EUROPEAN WAX CENTER pictured David Berg, CEO of European Wax Center