SBA 504 Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in Illinois

Fifth among states, with small loans

Illinois ranks 5 among states for SBA 504 beauty salon loans, with 27 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 worth $9.4 million. Illinois shows a median of $201,000, 0.86x against the 504 salon figure for other states, and half of loans lie between $115,500 and $323,000. Salons hold 11 of 39 within Illinois asset types, and no franchise brands appear, at 0.00%. These are small real estate loans.

Cook County, two corporations

Small Business Growth Corporation, at 17 loans and $7.5 million, and SomerCor 504, Inc., at 8 and $1.5 million, so the first is the main packager of salon projects across the state. Cook County has 15 loans, Dupage and Sangamon have 3 each, then Kane and Madison have 2. Approvals began only in FY2019 with 2 loans, and FY2024 had 2 loans worth $4.0 million, a large average, while FY2025 had 5.

Blanks

Illinois salon loans show neither a cancelled percentage nor a charge-off percentage, the early groups being thin, so a lender has only size, location and timing to go on. The thin early history also means that no one should read a low or high default pattern into Illinois salons from this page.

What an Illinois salon study must test

The salon study must justify ownership. It should compare the monthly cost of owning a small commercial unit with rent, show how many chairs the space supports, and estimate revenue per chair from the stylists' bookings and product sales. Chicago-area costs differ greatly from downstate costs, so comparable properties must come from the same submarket. The study should state who the stylists are, whether they rent booths or are employees, and what portion of the client book belongs to the owner. A salon's value is its clientele, which can walk, so the plan should show retention. Because loans near $201,000 are small, the debt service is modest, but the owner's own pay and the lease on any rented portion also come from the same income, and the study should show all three. The appraisal depends on what rent a different salon operator could pay, which the study should support with local comparables.