In late April, the owners of the salons, spas and barbershops profiled in this issue descended upon Scottsdale, Arizona, for the Data-Driven Salon Summit and the SALON TODAY 200 award dinner. At the elegant sit-down dinner, entire salon teams collected their certificates, while five special awards were bestowed upon the owners this year’s judges felt had the strongest ideas. After dinner, the owners and their teams will joined SALON TODAY on the resort’s lawn for a glow-up dance party to a playlist created by recommendations from the honorees themselves. 

While the SALON TODAY 200 has blossomed into its own community, where owners network, celebrate one another and swap ideas, it started in 1998 when SALON TODAY recognized some industry needs: 

• Data: At the time, salon management software was just in its infancy, so there were no data benchmarks owners could compare their businesses against to see how well they were doing. Although the competition looks back at the past year and not in real time like technology programs can today, in those first several years, the SALON TODAY 200 gave owners that much-needed measuring stick.

• Business Recognition: While there were award programs that recognized the artistry of the industry at that time, like the North American Hairstyling Awards, there were no programs that were acknowledging the business brains behind North America’s leading salons. As a business beauty management media brand, SALON TODAY wanted to change that. 

• Braintrust: In addition, by celebrating these leading salons, SALON TODAY also set out to collect their success stories and share them with the industry to give others peer-driven inspiration, essentially creating a giant thinktank of bright ideas.

In a more self-serving way, the SALON TODAY 200 also gave our team of editors a wealth of story ideas and sources to tap into all year long. Today, by encouraging each applicant to write a ‘Successes and Challenges’ essay, we also get a peek into the pain points the industry is feeling, as well as their management wins. Both guide our content planning for salontoday.com, our webinars, the magazine and our live events, including Data-Driven Salon Summit and Data-Driven Salon Tour, which will be held, November 3, 2025 in Nashville. 

Changes Through the Years

When the SALON TODAY 200 first launched, it was strictly a numbers game—honorees made the list by declaring their gross sales over the past two years, and we measured the percentage of growth from one year to the next, naming the 200 fastest-growing salons. And, we didn’t take their word for it—we asked them to back up the data with copies of their W-2s. 

With the advent of the Great Recession triggered by the 2008 financial crisis, our editors had to pivot for fear that sales growth would be stymied for most of North American salons. We responded by continuing the competition category for Growth, but adding 10 other Best Practices that salons could compete in, and we invited salons to compete in as many categories as they desired. Each category had its own data points and a focused essay question. While most of the categories like Technology, Customer Service and Philanthropy have remained the same year after year, every few years we’ve introduced new categories, including Salon Culture, Environmental Sustainability and Salon Leadership

When the Covid Pandemic struck in 2020, we needed to pivot again. The essay questions invited salons to share their strategies for dealing with the pandemic, including how they continued to engage both with their team members and their clients while their doors were closed, as well as ways to continue to bring in revenue. As a result of our own editorial team shrinking, we could no longer handle the demands of judging a competition where each salon could write up to 11 essays, so we changed the rules, allowing salons to enter just two—Growth and just one of their choice from the Best Practice categories. 

How To Consume the SALON TODAY 200

Because the SALON TODAY 200 profiles are packed with great business ideas, we suggest your take note of strategies you may want to 'borrow' for your own issue. Pass the issue or this story link around amongst your team members to inspire them, and encourage them to share their favorite ideas in your next staff meeting. 

If you’re looking to bring in a new product line or software program or simply want to know more details about the ideas presented in their profiles, consider reaching out to the honorees directly. We can’t promise they’ll answer you, but we have seen some evidence that this is happening successfully. 

For example, Merrisa Barnhart, owner of Bella Lago Salon and Medspa in Cornelius, North Carolina, recently shared with our editors that before she branched out into medspa services, she reached out to Ginny Eramo, owner of Interlocks in Newburyport, Massachusetts, who had done the same a few years back and Barnhardt was delighted that Eramo was so generous with her hard-earned wisdom. 

ST200 Stats at a Glance

By collecting data from all the 2025 SALON TODAY 200 honorees and developing averages, we are able to provide some interesting success benchmarks. How does your salon stack up?

Average 2022 Growth Revenue: $1,852,000
Average 2023 Growth Revenue: $2,016,000
Average 2024 Projected Growth Revenue: $2,375,000
Average Number of Transactions (2023): 20,778
Average Square Footage: 3,139
Average Number of Employees: 32
Average $ for Cut & Style: $71
Average $ for Single Process Color: $106
Average $ for Basic Manicure: $14

Link to the different SALON TODAY 200 categories for 2025:

Growth, Part One

Growth, Part Two

Business Builders

Client Retention and Referral and Environmental Sustainability

Compensation and Benefits

Customer Service

Employee Education

Philanthropy and Retail and Merchandising

Salon Culture

Technology