By Mario Toneguzzi

Three years after launching their franchise concept in the United States Deka Lash is expanding into the Canadian market with future plans to grow internationally as well.

Jerel Tomasello, President and COO of Deka Lash, told Retail Insider that the company, which specializes in eyelash extensions, expects to open locations this year in the Greater Toronto Area.

He said two franchisees are currently looking for locations in the Toronto area and expect to open before the end of the year.

“They’re each looking at three locations each probably over a period of about three years,” said Tomasello. “We anticipate probably six to 10 locations total in the Toronto market. We also have other potential franchisees looking in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa.

“We think we’ll have somewhere between 20 and 40 locations in Canada. Our goal is to be in 300 locations (in North America) within three years and our goal is to have 1,000 locations worldwide in 10 years. We think within the next two years we will have locations outside of North America.”

There are currently 82 locations in the United States.

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Tomasello said the company typically looks for real estate in places where people have disposable income as well in places where people want to look and feel good. Typical neighbours are boutique fitness and other beauty concepts as well as grocery stores.

Deka Lash was founded in 2011 by Jennifer and Michael Blair just outside of Pittsburgh in Shadyside, Pennsylvania.

“They owned a teeth whitening business at the time and Jennifer was looking for something else to do. She heard about this new thing called lash extensions at the time,” said Tomasello. “She took a class to do it herself and put out a Groupon and a week later she had 300 appointment requests for Groupon.

“She got turned onto it because she had gone to Las Vegas and got lash extensions but couldn’t find anywhere back in Pittsburgh where she lived that provided a service. And the place that did do it was super expensive. So she wanted to make it affordable. It started there in the back of a salon in one room and then eventually got a salon of her own and grew to four stores.

“And then in early 2016 they decided to bring in franchising and we opened our first franchise location in January 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah.”

Deka Lash provides semi-permanent eyelash extensions featuring a unique in-studio experience, online booking and extended hours including weekend appointments. The company says Deka Lash’s highly-trained and licensed lash artists take their time to ensure quality applications, individually designed to fit the client’s eye shape and lifestyle. With the recent launch of TrueXpress, the first-to-market service designed to provide time-constrained women a fast approach to have beautiful lashes, Deka Lash is setting the standard for beautiful eyelashes, it says.

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We know a two hour lash appointment can be hard to fit into your busy schedule, so we created TrueXpress! Our new method gives you the lashes you love in half the time ❤️ ⏰ Check out TrueXpress in action and change the way you get lashes! Click the link in bio to learn more. • • • • #dekalashes #truexpress #eyelashextensions #lashes #eyelashes #lashextensions #volumelashes #eyelash #beauty #lashartist #classiclashes #eyelashextension #lashesonfleek #lashtech #lash #makeup #lashlove #lashlift #hybridlashes #lashaddict #lashesfordays #lashboss

A post shared by Deka Lash (@dekalashes) on Nov 20, 2019 at 6:36am PST

View this post on Instagram

Spending hours in the studio for a lash appointment is hard for anyone’s schedule ⏰ So we created TrueXpress! Our newest service gives you the lashes you love in half the time of your old lash appointment 💕 Talk to your lash artist to learn how to get a fresh and full look, and get back to doing the things you love. Click link in bio to learn more. • • • • #dekalashes #truexpress #eyelashextensions #lashes #eyelashes #lashextensions #volumelashes #eyelash #beauty #lashartist #classiclashes #eyelashextension #lashesonfleek #lashtech #lash #makeup #lashlove #lashlift #hybridlashes #lashaddict #lashesfordays #lashboss

A post shared by Deka Lash (@dekalashes) on Nov 22, 2019 at 8:01am PST

“In just three short years and with more than 200 franchises awarded in the United States, Deka Lash is well on its way to joining the ranks of some of this country’s most noteworthy franchise companies,” said Michael Blair, co-founder and CEO of Look Good Brands, parent company of Deka Lash. "It is now time to make Deka Lash a global brand."

“Beauty is a universal language that resonates around the world. This makes the Deka Lash brand of services offered through its unique membership model an attractive business with incredible international growth opportunities,” said co-founder and Chief Experience Officer, Jennifer Blair.

In 2019, Deka Lash earned the rank of #138 on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Fastest Growing Franchise List.

The name Deka comes from the Blairs’ daughters Demi and Karli. The first two letters of their names make up the brand’s name.

Mario Toneguzzi, based in Calgary has 37 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald covering sports, crime, politics, health, city and breaking news, and business. For 12 years as a business writer, his main beats were commercial and residential real estate, retail, small business and general economic news. He nows works on his own as a freelance writer and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Email: mdtoneguzzi@gmail.com

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