Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in the San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, PR Metro Area

In San Juan-Bayamón-Caguas, beauty salons occupy 7 of 39 places in the area's class ladder and rank 39 of 546 nationally for salons, with a location quotient of 1.17x, meaning the area leans toward them slightly more than the nation. The file holds 55 approvals between FY2017 and FY2026 for only $5.7 million, so the typical ticket is small: the median is $77,100, 0.77x the national median, and the central loans range from $25,000 to $136,750.

Municipios and two banks

Loans are placed by municipio: San Juan Municipio with 19, Bayamón Municipio with 9, Carolina Municipio with 7 and Caguas Municipio with 6. A pair of banks carries the record. Banco Popular de Puerto Rico shows 17 loans and $1.5 million, while Oriental Bank shows 16 loans and $2.1 million, which means the pair covers the larger part of the file. Program choice is 7(a) for 47 loans and 504 for 8. The franchise share is 0.00%, a result that fits independent, owner-operated salons.

Nearly all the yearly rows are hidden

Only FY2017 is shown, with 5 loans and $432,500; each later year, FY2018 through FY2026, is hidden by SBA because the counts are too thin to publish. The cancellation and charge-off rates are hidden for the same reason. A hidden number is not a zero, and no trend or loss floor can be read from this page, so a lender has to turn to the Puerto Rico page or the national class for context.

What a San Juan-area salon study should test

Because the figures are small, the study can be small and precise. It should test the stylist's book of clients and whether chairs will be rented or staffed, the foot traffic of the municipio chosen, and the number of competing salons within the same commercial strip. Lease and build-out should be priced against the $77,100 median. Debt service coverage should rest on a slow ramp, and the sponsor's licensing under Puerto Rico rules should be confirmed. Because two banks hold most loans, a borrower should also test the terms available from each. The July 2023 delineation places municipios in the metro.