Blo is a Blow Dry Bar.  Scissors are verboten.  Dye, ditto.  In about 30 minutes, get a wash and blow out style.  No cuts, no colour: Just WASH BLOW GO.  Blo is also the brainchild of Judy Brooks and her daughter Devon.  The two hatched the idea in 2006 when Devon posed a vital question to her Mom, who is a serial entrepreneur of sorts… “why isn’t there a place for quick, great hair, like there is for nails?” And there you have it.

Devon developed the concept with her mom and wrote the Blo – Blow Dry Bar business plan while at the London College of Fashion as a class project (she got 98%, by the way!)  The two took the idea step further — Blo opened its first location in Vancouver, Canada Spring 2007. Being first to market in the category of Blow Dry Bar with a cheeky brand has had its advantages. Blo has a big vision and Judy is working with the young team to capitalize on the success with a well-developed growth strategy.

Starting a business from scratch, in a brand new category isn’t easy.  The two had their work cut out for them.  But they did what so many entrepreneurs fail to do – they stuck to their guns.  They had an idea and they didn’t stray – they offer blow drys.  No cuts, colors, nails, whatever.  Just a great style at an affordable price in less time than it takes to grab lunch.  They offered women an affordable luxury, a way to cram a bit of pampering into their day without feeling guilty about it.  As the ‘lipstick index’ has predicted women are spending more on their appearance during times of recession – and Blo was right there with online reservations, membership cards and hip, cool styles for everyone.

As a result of sticking to their strategy and “owning their niche” – Blo has grown like crazy.  Their first blow dry bar opened in June 2007, and by the end of 2010 they will have upwards of 10 in Canada and the US.  They have over 49,000+ hair cadets in blo’s database (a hair cadet is how they refer to clients. Their media coverage has been amazing with more than 230 national and international media hits. Plus that have received over 200 requests to franchise their business.   All of this because they found a niche and owned it.  You go BLO!