The hair cutters at Lady Jane’s Haircuts for Men are all toned, tanned, young women. Hired primarily off craigslist, the “LJ Girls” give the new shop on Washtenaw what president Tim McCollum calls an “edge”–and lead some to compare the franchise to Hooter’s. The “girls” don’t like the comparison (for one thing, they wear normal salon attire), but Lady Jane’s makes its target audience plain. The lobby is like a diminutive sports bar minus the bar, with a pool table, sports memorabilia, rows of leather recliners, and big-screen TVs all tuned to various sports networks.

McCollum and Ann Arbor franchisee Chad Johnson met at Detroit radio station WDFN, where Johnson created what is now the company’s catchphrase, “Wicked Awesome.” Thanks to its marketing flair–and basic cuts as low as $10–the company claims to be “one of the fastest-growing men’s hair care companies in the country.” The Ann Arbor store is the eighteenth, and the company–which started with a single location in St. Clair Shores in 2004–plans to open ten more by year’s end.