Regis To Rebrand Trade Secret After Acquisition

MINNEAPOLIS-As part of an effort to expand the focus of its Trade Secret stores from professional products to a broad range of beauty items, Regis Corp. has entered into an agreement to acquire the interest in the PureBeauty and BeautyFirst salon operations it does not already own. The transaction will close in February. Further details were not disclosed.

Most Trade Secret locations will be rebranded as PureBeauty, with most Beauty Express units rebranded as BeautyFirst.

“We will be combining the best of all our brands, bringing together PureBeauty’s and BeautyFirst’s strength in skin, cosmetics and bath with Trade Secret’s existing professional hair care platform and exceptional real estate,” said Paul D. Finkelstein, chairman and CEO of Regis Corp. in a statement.

Steve Hudson, the president and CEO of PureBeauty and BeautyFirst, will become chairman of the division and will be responsible for the strategic oversight and execution of the transformation plan.

Regis current owns a 19.9% in PureBeauty and BeautyFirst, which consist of 63 company owned locations and 51 franchise locations, operating in 20 states. Total sales of all operations are approximately $110 million.

As of September 30, 2007, Regis franchised or held ownership interests in over 12,500 locations, under the names Supercuts, Jean Louis David, Vidal Sassoon, Regis Salons, MasterCuts, Trade Secret, SmartStyle, Cost Cutters and Hair Club for Men and Women. In addition, Regis maintains ownership interests in Empire Education Group and various other salon concepts such as Cool Cuts 4 Kids, and the Beauty Takashi and Beauty Plaza concepts in Japan.