“Going full force”: Inside Oz Hair and Beauty’s multi-million dollar retail expansion

It’s full steam ahead for Australian hair and beauty retailer Oz Hair and Beauty as the brand uses a multi-million dollar investment to open the doors to nine new shop fronts across Australia in a bid to expand its retail count to 15 by the end of 2024.

Elio and Venessa Nappa opened their flagship salon OZ Hair in Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building (QVB) in 1986 before their son Anthony Nappa saw an opportunity to found Oz Hair and Beauty in 2012, with his brother Guy also joining the team during the last few years.

The brand currently employs more than 120 people across its six physical stores and salons in New South Wales and its warehouse in Caringbah in Sydney, with plans to increase employee numbers to 165 when Oz Hair and Beauty expands to 15 stores by the end of the year.

In 2019, Oz Hair and Beauty was turning over $2 million a month and by 2021 the brand doubled its revenue to $40 million.

The year 2021 also saw investors, Edison Growth Fund Accent Group, the CEO of Accent Group Daniel Agostinelli, and billionaire businessman Brett Blundy buy a stake in the business for an undisclosed amount.

“In terms of the investment, it was done about in 2021 and we slowly started testing stores and now, because the stores have worked, now we’re going to go really hard on it and start to really pour millions of dollars into opening up more shop fronts,” Nappa explained to SmartCompany.

“So 10 this year, maybe 15 in the next year.

“So the actual investment that we got in was three years ago, but we’re now using that money to really drive the stores after a couple of years of testing stuff.”

Five of the new Oz Hair and Beauty shop fronts will be in NSW and the remainder will be made up between Victoria and Queensland.

Nappa said things were a bit weak in the retail environment coming out of the last strain of COVID.

“But in 2022 we did our first revamp of our QVB store, we revamped it and it (was) a new concept and it really uplifted sales,” he said. 

“So then we started opening up more (stores) last year, we opened up about five last year, and the optimism is just when we do it, it actually works. 

“It grows the whole business and the whole brand. 

“Some of our investors are in online and retail and they just say when you have both, it’s just such a good customer experience and it translates in the numbers.

“The benefit of shop fronts is you’re opening yourself to more customers.”

Nappa also shared his insights on the current retail landscape with SmartCompany. 

“It could be due to our category. Haircare, it’s not so much the lipstick effect, we don’t sell lipstick, but it’s the same,” he explained. 

“The hair and beauty industry is quite recession-proof. Now I wouldn’t say totally recession proof, it has been tough at times, but we haven’t really been affected.

“We’re still seeing year-on-year growth. But shoppers do want value, they are looking for value. 

“We have to give them something if it’s a spend-and-save offer or a freebie. 

“The consumers (are) now being smarter with their money. They do want to get a perceived value from their purchases.”

Nappa also touched briefly on the future of Oz Hair and Beauty.

“Our vision is a nationwide omni-channel hair and beauty retailer. So the future is more stores Australia-wide,” he said.

“We’re just an omni-channel retailer and we’re going full force now.”