Drybar

History

In 2008, Alli Webb began a side business called Straight At Home. She quickly outgrew her one-woman operation and realized there was a huge hole in the market for just blowouts. Along with her brother Michael Landau, former Vice President of Brand Marketing at Yahoo!, and her husband, Cameron Webb, former Creative Director at Secret Weapon Marketing, an ad agency, Alli co-founded what would become Drybar with a salon in Brentwood, California in 2010. The following year, along with the help of friends, they were able to raise $2.5 million in order to expand the business. Once the business had expanded, Drybar looked to add investors as well as add to their board of trustees. They added Castanea Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, to their list of investors in January 2012. Additionally, Paul Pressler, former CEO of GAP and President of Disney, became an investor and board member. Janet Gurwitch, the founder and former CEO of Laura Mercier Cosmetics, also became an investor and board member at Drybar.

Drybar's motto is "No cuts. No color. Just blowouts." Which is a reference to how they only do blowouts.

Everything at Drybar is designed with the “bar vernacular” in mind. The cashiers are aptly called “bartenders” and hairstyles are named after cocktails such as the Cosmo, Mai Tai, or Manhattan. The idea behind this came from Webb who believed that “women [should want] to come in and have fun” and "what's more fun than going to your local bar?" Webb’s vision is present in the designs brought to life by Josh Heitler. Instead of the typical salon set up, clients at Drybar “sit facing a U-shaped or single-stretch bar, with their backs to the mirrors,” which brings to mind sitting at a bar rather than being at a salon.

Aesthetically, all Drybars look roughly the same, due mainly in part to Josh Heitler. Heitler, the principal of a boutique architectural firm and now partner in the company, came up with the design elements and look of Drybar. The reasoning behind the name Drybar, is evident in the design.

Locations

Drybar revenue grew from $1.5 million in 2010 to a revenue of $19 million in 2012 to $39 million in 2013. As of January 2016, Drybar has 66 locations in 11 states, Washington DC and Vancouver, British Columbia

Products

Webb, a longtime professional stylist, spent several years developing a complete line of products. This came about “after trying nearly every existing product line." Webb just couldn't find what she was looking for to meet their very specific styling needs, so she “partnered with some of the best labs in the world to create exactly what [was] needed at Drybar."

After being frustrated with the product and tool choices available, Webb (along with the help of Board member and investor Janet Gurwitch) developed a line specifically for Drybar and blowouts. In 2013, after testing the line in about 70 Sephora locations, Drybar then went ahead with 300+ Sephora shops and QVC to launch their line of products. These products range from brushes to a blow dryer to hair accessories to various spritzes, sprays, and creams. These products are for home usage in order to lengthen the life of a Drybar blowout or for customers to achieve the look on their own. Buttercup, the official blow dryer used at Drybar, is the Drybar mascot and is sold for at-home use.

Milestones

One of the core components to the "Drybar Experience" is the ability for the salons to serve a glass of champagne or wine to their clients as they are receiving a service. Due to alcohol licensing laws, certain states and locations don’t allow for this. In October 2012, a Drybar location was opened in Bethesda, Maryland. When the regional manager, Courtney Barfield, realized this, both she and Drybar began working with District 16 Delegate Ariana Kelly to push legislation in 2014's General Assembly to allow for Montgomery County hair salons to provide complimentary wine, beer and champagne.

On May 5, 2014, Governor Martin O'Malley signed the so-called Drybar Bill and the law was enacted on July 1, 2014.

Governor O'Malley declared July 1 "Buttercup Day" in reference to Drybar's yellow blow dryer mascot.

On September 4, 2011, Drybar was featured on an episode of the hit HBO show Entourage. In the episode, studio head Dana Gordon stops by the blow dry bar, which is a favorite of celebrities such as Emma Roberts, Zooey Deschanel, Renée Zellweger, Cindy Crawford and Perry Reeves.

On December 7, 2012, Webb was featured on Katie and was interviewed by Katie Couric about Drybar and how it came to be.

On January 9, 2017, Webb was interviewed on How I Built This, and was interviewed by Guy Raz.