Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in West Virginia

The smallest tickets in the set

The median salon loan in West Virginia is $42,900, only 0.43x of the national median for salons, and that median is the one figure that sets the cell apart. The state approved 27 salon loans between FY2017 and FY2026, totalling just $1.8 million. Half of them fall between $20,000 and $92,000. In other respects the cell is unremarkable: the state ranks 45 of 54, the class ranks 6 of 39 inside West Virginia, and a location quotient of 1.13x shows a slightly larger slice of local approvals than the national record gives salons.

Only 7(a), almost no franchising

Every one of the 27 loans was an SBA 7(a) loan; the record shows 0 under SBA 504. Franchise brands appear in 3.7% of loans. Volume rose and fell, with 6 loans and $452,700 in FY2017, a single loan in each of FY2018, FY2019 and FY2020, a jump to 7 loans in FY2024, and none in FY2026, a complete fiscal year. With yearly dollars this low, a single failed shop would be a visible share of the total.

Huntington leads, and the counties

The only lender row printed is for The Huntington National Bank, current holder of 11 of the 7(a) loans, with $812,400. The roll names today's holder for every loan, which shows where the loans sit today and says nothing about how that bank treats salons. Monongalia County has 6 loans, Kanawha 5 and Randolph 4, with Cabell, Jefferson and Raleigh at 2 each. The West Virginia salon cell carries neither a cancellation number nor a charge-off number: fewer than 30 loans stand behind each, and Loan Analytics withholds any rate below that count. A withheld rate is not a zero.

A West Virginia salon, tested

With loans this small, the study is closer to a business-viability memo than a real estate analysis. It should establish how many stylists the shop supports, the realistic customer base within a short drive, and the average ticket per visit. Rent and build-out must be set against a median near $42,900, and the sponsor's own cash and working capital should be examined for the first months. Debt service coverage needs a downside case with slower bookings, and a lender will want evidence of licensure and a lease term at least as long as the loan. Salons carry no coding caveat here, so the counts above can be read as printed.