Regis cuts several dozen headquarters staff

Regis Corp. cut as many as 75 workers at its corporate headquarters in Edina this week, according to people affected by the move.

The hair salon company has been undergoing an aggressive restructuring that is focused on the growth of its franchise platform since it hired Hugh Sawyer as president and CEO in April 2017.

Regis declined to comment beyond saying that its conversations with employees are confidential.

Two people who were affected by the cuts and declined to be identified said they may affect 75 people across multiple levels and departments, with as many as 15 coming from IT. Notices were given individually to employees on Tuesday along with separation agreements and severance packages.

A year ago Regis had 41,000 full- and part-time employees worldwide. As of June 30 the company had 27,000 full and part-time corporate employees according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Most of those employees are affiliated with the individual salons.

A big part of the decline in head count reflects the sale of mall-based salons to The Beautiful Group.

In October the company announced it had sold most of its mall-based salon businesses in North America and the majority of its international salons to The Beautiful Group, an affiliate of Regent LP, a private equity firm based in Beverly Hills, Calif., that will operate those salons as franchise locations.

Regis has said in securities filings that its restructuring plan also includes the turnaround of underperforming company-owned stores, investments in technology, improved advertising across multiple channels, stylist recruitment for its salons but also the "elimination of nonessential, non-customer facing costs."

The company reported generally improved financial results for its fiscal year ended June 30, including net income from continuing operations of $7 million for the fourth quarter, a 65 percent increase over the fourth quarter last year, and net income from continuing operations of $61.9 million for the fiscal year, after reporting $900,000 loss in the prior year.

However annual revenue continued to decline, down 4.3 percent for the year, even with its mall-based business and international segment classified as discontinued operations.

In the company's earnings release on Aug. 21, Sawyer noted the progress of the restructuring. "Although we have more work to do, we are pleased to report signs of progress in our financial performance and ongoing transformation efforts."

Shares of Regis closed at $21.19 Thursday. Shares have traded in the range of $13.10 to $22.40 per share over the last 52 weeks.

Patrick Kennedy • 612-673-7926