Who Owns Drybar?

Alli Webb, a professional stylist, started Drybar in 2008 as a mobile service doing blowouts in clients' homes around Los Angeles. Demand outgrew the mobile model, and in 2010 Webb opened the first physical Drybar location in Brentwood, California, with her brother Michael Landau and then-husband Cameron Webb. The concept was narrow by design: blowouts only, no cuts or color, at a fixed price, in a bar-styled environment with champagne service.

The format caught on quickly. Drybar expanded through the early 2010s into a national chain, funded by more than $50 million in venture capital raised to open salons and develop a product line. The brand became a category creator, proving that a single beauty service could support a standalone retail concept, and it spawned dozens of imitators in the blowout segment.

Two transactions split the company in 2020 and 2021. In January 2020, Helen of Troy acquired the Drybar products business, the trademark and related intellectual property for approximately $255 million. The salon business remained with Drybar Holdings LLC. In February 2021, WellBiz Brands acquired the franchise rights to the salon network, becoming franchisor while Drybar Holdings converted to the system's largest franchisee.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit in-person services hard, but the salon network recovered and resumed growth under franchising. In 2025 the system opened 28 new locations and passed 200 studios nationwide, with more than 50 additional openings planned for 2026. Franchise disclosure data shows the average Drybar location generated approximately $853,000 in sales in 2025.