Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in Maryland

A trade on a rising line

Maryland's salon lending has been climbing for years. Approvals stood at 13 in FY2017, slipped to 8 by FY2021, and then rose each year to 37 in FY2026, a year worth $6.1 million. Across the whole FY2017 to FY2026 record the state approved 196 salon loans for $29.1 million, which ranks Maryland 16 of 54 for the class. With a location quotient of 1.42x, Maryland gives salons a heavier slot in its SBA lending than the country does, and they rank 7 of 39 by count inside the state. The loans are small even for this trade, with a median of $75,000 at 0.75x the national salon median, yet nothing here clears our distinctness screen against both Maryland's all-class figures and salons nationally. The cell is defined by its growth and its lender, not by an unusual outcome.

One bank carries most of it

The program split is nearly all 7(a): 192 loans, with 4 under SBA 504. Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company holds 106 of those 192 loans, worth $9.1 million, which ties Maryland salon credit closely to a single lender's appetite. TD Bank, National Association follows with 12 loans worth only $435,000, then Readycap Lending, LLC with 8 and The Huntington National Bank with 7. The middle half of approvals falls between $25,000 and $200,000, sums that pay for chairs, fixtures and a leased build-out rather than property. Franchised salons account for 12.2% of loans. Montgomery County leads the counties with 31, Baltimore County has 29, and Howard and Prince George's have 23 apiece.

Light losses, ordinary cancellations

Maryland salon approvals in the FY2017 to FY2024 cohort show a cancellation floor of 10.9%, with the ceiling at the same 10.9%, matching salons nationally. Losses have been light: of 58 Maryland salon loans funded between FY2017 and FY2021, 1.7% are charged off so far and the five-year reading is the same 1.7%, a floor below the national salon figure. Both remain floors while loans are open.

For a borrower, a small median means the study has to justify a modest loan precisely rather than a large one hopefully. Demand rests on the stylists the owner can bring or hire and the clients who follow them, so the study should test the book of business, not just foot traffic past the door. Cost is mostly build-out, shampoo-station plumbing and fixtures, set against the lease term. Coverage of debt service should be run with chair or booth rental at a realistic fill and the owner's draw included. There is rarely a building for an appraiser to value, so a lender's comfort rests on cash flow, and the study's forecast carries more weight than any collateral.

The lender names above are the current holders as SBA reports them, which can differ from the bank that first made the loan, and rates on this page are floors from approval cohorts, not final outcomes.