Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area

Small salon loans with gaps in the record

The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue salon file holds 139 loans from FY2017 to FY2026 totalling $28.9 million. The median is $125,000, which is 1.25x the national median for salons, with the inner half of the file running from $50,000 to $317,250. Seattle holds fourteenth place among 546 areas for the class, while salons are ninth among its 39 classes. A location quotient of 1.06x puts the class barely above its national share.

Nearly all of the 139 loans, 131, are SBA 7(a); only 8 are SBA 504. Franchise flags appear on 12.9%. King County accounts for 76 of the loans, Pierce County for 36 and Snohomish County for 27, so those three counties carry the file.

Who holds them

SBA names the holder now in charge of each loan. The largest holding is U.S. Bank, National Association's, at 24 loans and $3.9 million, then KeyBank National Association's, at 19 and $3.2 million. Columbia Bank (OR) holds 14 loans worth only $853,800, the smallest dollars per loan of the group, while Enterprise Bank & Trust holds 7 worth $4.4 million, the largest dollars per loan. Heritage Bank (WA) holds 7 worth $1.2 million. The 504 side has no lender with enough loans to list. A portfolio shows what a holder owns, and no more.

For Seattle, Loan Analytics withholds a handful of values because the loan counts under them are thin. These cover both loss rates, plus the FY2019 and FY2020 counts. None of these appears here, and a missing value is no zero, which leaves the page without any loss figure. Of the years that remain, FY2017 has 13 loans, FY2021 has 12, FY2024 has 18 worth $2.4 million, and FY2026 has 16 worth $3.9 million.

Seattle-area salon: the study's questions

Lease terms come first, tested against the margin of a small salon. After that comes chair capacity against the stylists the operator can recruit and keep, the service and retail mix, and the speed at which a Seattle location fills its appointment books. Demand should be tested at trade-area level against the salons and suite-style studios already there. Build-out for plumbing, ventilation and finishes is a real cost against loans of this size. Debt service coverage should hold through a ramp, and the appraisal will rest on leasehold improvements and equipment. Puget Sound totals are minimums, because a loan reaches the area only through a county the July 2023 list recognizes.