Sharkey's Cuts for Kids

What Sharkey's Cuts for Kids does

Sharkey's Cuts for Kids is a franchised children's hair salon business founded in 2001 by Linda Sharkey and Scott Sharkey in Westport, Connecticut. The company operates a pure franchise distribution model with 200+ (215 listed) salon locations serving families across the United States, with active expansion pipeline into 15+ additional states. Its core service is a Kids' Haircut for children ages 0-14 that bundles wash, cut, blow-dry, and entertainment (themed novelty chairs, Xbox gaming on 40" screens, movie/cartoon viewing) into a single per-visit ticket; the offering is extended with a Tween Lounge for older kids, Child's First Haircut keepsake packages, Glamour Girl Birthday Parties, Special Occasion Styling, Family Haircut Packages, and Unlimited Haircut Memberships at select locations.

The company's technology footprint is intentionally light: there is no proprietary platform or core technology stack — Sharkey's is fundamentally a service brand with commodity website/booking infrastructure, a Shopify-based online store (sharkeysonline.com) selling branded kid-safe hair care SKUs (shampoos, detanglers, styling paste, gel, mousse, argan-oil treatments), and a free Extended Brain AI tool used to help parents prepare children (especially those with anxiety or sensory sensitivities) for the haircut experience. Mobile apps are not offered.

Revenue mechanics combine one-time per-visit service tickets with modest add-on streams (parties, memberships, branded products). Go-to-market is dual-channel: a direct-to-consumer consumer motion (bookings via website, walk-ins, local awareness, and word-of-mouth) layered with a channel-partner franchise sales motion targeting entrepreneurs to open new units, supported by a dedicated franchise marketing site (sharkeysfranchisingcompany.com). Customers are SMB/consumers (families), pricing varies by location, and pricing is not publicly disclosed. The franchisor's corporate team is small (51-100 employees), consistent with a capital-light franchisor governance model, while revenue flow at the unit level is generated and retained by individual franchisees.

Name

Sharkey's Cuts for Kids

Legal name

Sharkey's Cuts for Kids International

Website

https://sharkeyscutsforkids.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Sharkey's Cuts for Kids is a private franchise system of 200-plus children's hair salons in the U.S., founded in 2001 and serving families with kids ages 0-14 through themed-chair, entertainment-enhanced haircuts, birthday parties, memberships, and branded hair-care products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Hair Salon Services

NAICS

Beauty Salons (812112)

SIC

Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations (2844)

akta.pro primary industry

Kids' Haircut Services (HSALAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Kids’ Haircare (CRABABAJ), Baby Haircare (Shampoo, Conditioner, Detanglers) (CRABAJAD)

Keywords

• Children's hair salon
• Kids haircut services
• Salon franchise
• Kids hair care products
• Birthday party packages

Headquarters

HQ city

Westport

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Kids Haircut Services: Core revenue from professional kids haircuts for ages 0-14. Each haircut includes wash, cut, blow-dry, and entertainment (cars, Xbox, movies). Additional services include first haircut packages with keepsakes, blowouts, braids, updos, and special occasion styling.
2. Birthday Party Packages: Glamour Girl Birthday Parties for ages 4-10, taking place in the Tween Lounge with special styling treatments.
3. Tween Lounge Services: Private lounge services for older kids including haircuts, styling, blowouts, and Day of Beauty experiences.
4. Retail Products: Online store selling kid-friendly hair care products including shampoos, detanglers, styling paste, sculpting gel, mousse, and curl products.
5. Unlimited Haircut Memberships: Unlimited haircut membership programs offered at select locations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sharkey's Cuts for Kids provides professional children's haircut services for ages 0-14 through a franchise network of 200+ salon locations in the United States. Each haircut bundles wash, cut, blow-dry, and an entertainment experience (themed novelty car chairs, Xbox gaming on 40" screens, movies, lollipop, tattoo, balloon, optional minicure, and a charity donation chip). The brand supplements core haircuts with a Tween Lounge for older kids, first-haircut keepsake packages, birthday parties, special occasion styling, family packages, unlimited memberships, and a branded online store selling kid-safe shampoos, detanglers, and styling products.

Product overview

Sharkey's Cuts for Kids operates a franchise-based children's hair salon business offering a unified service model centered on professional haircuts for children ages 0-14. The core product is the Kids' Haircut service, which includes wash, cut, blow-dry, and entertainment in themed novelty chairs. Supporting services include the Tween Lounge (private space for older kids), Child's First Haircut (with keepsake package), Glamour Girl Birthday Parties, Special Occasion Styling, Family Haircut Packages, and Unlimited Haircut Memberships. The company also operates an online retail store (Sharkey's Online Store) selling kid-safe hair care products including shampoos, conditioners, and styling products. All services feature themed entertainment including Xbox gaming stations and novelty car-shaped chairs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Kids' Haircuts Professional haircut service for children ages 0-14, including wash, cut, blow-dry, and entertainment options such as themed novelty chairs (cars, jeeps, race cars), Xbox gaming on 40" screens, movies, and cartoons. Each visit also includes a lollipop, tattoo, balloon, optional minicure, and a Sharkey's Donation Chip.
• Tween Lounge
• Child's First Haircut
• Glamour Girl Birthday Parties
• Special Occasion Styling
• Unlimited Haircut Memberships
• Family Haircut Packages
• Sharkey's Branded Hair Care Product Line

Quantifiable outcome

• 10,000,000+ smiles delivered to children and families
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Sport Clips: Sport Clips is a large US hair salon franchise focused on men and boys, sharing the same franchise-distribution DNA as Sharkey's and competing indirectly for the same franchisee talent pool and family-customer base.
• Roosters Men's Grooming Center: Roosters is a franchise of men's and boys' grooming salons operating in the US, sharing a franchise business model and boys/family positioning that overlaps with Sharkey's but focused on the male side of the household.
• Great Clips: Great Clips is a large, established US hair salon franchise with thousands of locations that serves families and children as part of a broader value-priced haircut offering, representing the broad incumbent against which Sharkey's competes for the same end customer.
• Cost Cutters Family Hair Salon: Cost Cutters is a national value-priced family hair salon franchise serving men, women, and children, providing an incumbent low-cost alternative to Sharkey's premium kids' experience and putting pricing pressure on franchisees.
• Regis Corporation: Regis Corporation is the parent company of multiple hair salon brands (Supercuts, SmartStyle, Cost Cutters) and represents the largest-scale incumbent in the US franchise salon industry, with significant influence on consumer and franchisee economics.

Direct peers

• Snip-its: Snip-its is a children's hair salon franchise that delivers themed, entertainment-driven haircut experiences to kids, directly competing with Sharkey's on the kids-only, experience-led positioning and franchise distribution model.
• Cookie Cutters Haircuts for Kids: Cookie Cutters is a franchise chain of children's hair salons offering entertainment-themed haircut experiences, including movies and video games, operating in a similar niche to Sharkey's with multiple US franchise locations.
• Pigtails & Crewcuts: Pigtails & Crewcuts is a direct competitor and franchise specializing in children's haircuts and salon services, with a comparable age range target (infants through tweens) and themed salon environment. It is the closest head-to-head peer in the kids' salon franchise category.

Emerging players

• Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa: Hand & Stone is a US franchise in the personal care services space (massage, facial, hair removal) targeting the same family and tween demographic and operating a comparable franchise unit model; it represents an adjacent franchise peer for valuation and franchise-system benchmarking.
• Floyd's 99 Barbershop: Floyd's 99 is a growing franchise of full-service barbershops offering haircuts for men, women, and children, including a kids' haircut experience, and competes for the same franchisee demographic in the family haircut market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/sharkeyscutsforkidscorporate
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sharkeyscutsforkids

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sharkey's Cuts for Kids