Case study · Turnaround

TRIM NuLu: replacing a model COVID killed.

TRIM ran haircuts inside offices. When COVID emptied the offices, the business went with them. The fix was not marketing. It was a new business model.

$1M+

revenue within two years of launch

5×

Best Hair Salon in Louisville, Courier-Journal, 2021 to 2025

employees, 900 to 3,250 square feet

Top 200

Salon Today 200, 2024

The situation

TRIM ran mini-salons inside office buildings, bringing haircuts to people at work. When COVID closed those offices, the customers disappeared with them, even though the need for salon services did not.

The constraint

More marketing could not fix it. The customers were not in the offices anymore. The model itself had to change, and fast.

What we built

A destination salon in NuLu, replacing the onsite model

An expanded service menu built around higher-value visits

Card-secured booking and rebooking so customers come back on a schedule

One discount a year, a Black Friday gift card sale that brought in cash up front (how it worked)

Referral, email and paid media measured against bookings, not clicks

The result

Sales grew from $506,000 in 2021 to $897,000 in 2022, a 77% jump reported in the Salon Today 200. Within two years of launch, revenue passed $1 million, according to Square’s case study. In 2025, Inc. ranked TRIM No. 106 among the fastest-growing private companies in the Southeast, and the Courier-Journal named it Louisville’s Best Hair Salon for the fifth straight year. Square also reports no-shows cut from 20% to nearly zero after card-secured booking, and $17K in gift card sales in a single Black Friday.

“Our rapid growth over the past few years has largely come down to marketing that creates virality.”

Sean Stafford, CEO and co-founder, in Square’s TRIM NuLu case study, 2024

The proof

Every number above comes from a third party. Here is where each one was published.

Salon Today 200 2024 entry for TRIM NuLu, a Louisville hair salon, showing 77% sales growth from $506,000 to $897,000 — Salon Today 200 · Spring 2024TRIM NuLu’s entry in the 2024 Salon Today 200: sales of $506,000 in 2021 and $897,000 in 2022, growth of 77.27%.

Square case study on TRIM NuLu: how a Louisville hair salon hit $1M in revenue two years after launching — Square · June 4, 2024Square’s case study: “How Louisville’s Best Hair Salon Hit $1M in Revenue Just Two Years After Launching.”

Inc. · 2025Inc.’s company profile: No. 106 on the Inc. Regionals Southeast list of fastest-growing private companies.

Courier-Journal Community Choice Awards 2025 naming TRIM NuLu the best hair salon in Louisville for the fifth straight year — Courier-Journal · 2025The Courier-Journal’s 2025 Community’s Choice Awards: TRIM NuLu named winner in Hair Salon, the fifth straight year.

Square case study on TRIM NuLu selling $17K in gift cards on Black Friday from one annual discount promotion — Square · June 4, 2024$17K in gift cards sold on a single Black Friday, from the one discount TRIM ran each year. How the one-discount strategy worked.

Sources: Square case study · Courier-Journal Best Hair Salon in Louisville (2025 winners list) · Inc. Regionals Southeast, No. 106 (2025) · TITAN Business Awards Gold (2021), announcement · Salon Today 200, Growth (2024)

Next case study

Louisville Historic Tours: from invisible to the top of search ›

Something in your business not moving?

Start with the 30-Day Diagnosis