By Carrie Brenner

With more than 600 locations across the nation, the No. 21 franchise in this year's AllBusiness AllStars ranking is well on its way to the top. Sport Clips founder and CEO Gordon Logan had been in the hair care business for several years when he spotted an unhappy trend: the decline of the traditional barbershop. "Men were being forced to go to beauty salons. We felt like there was a real opportunity to create a concept for men and boys," says Logan, who decided to cater to this underserved niche.

With his unique hair salon-meets-sports haven concept, Logan opened the first Sport Clips store in Austin, Texas, in the early 90s. The company started franchising a couple of years later, though Logan says that part of the reason the system has been so successful is that Sport Clips was designed with franchising in mind from the start. The entire look of each salon is a sports lover's paradise, from the big screen TVs and simulated hardwood floor in the waiting area to the stadium-style seating and individual TVs customers can watch sports on while getting their hair cut.