Hair Care Retail Chains Battle for Dallas-Fort Worth Customers, Stylists.(Originated from Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas)

Aug. 5--Vic Gallese doesn't see why the same business principles that transformed the hamburger business won't also work on hair.

After all, the Dallas-based retail consultant himself likes the ease of walking into one of the growing number of hair care chains like Hurst-based Pro-Cuts and ordering up a haircut the same way he would request a Big Mac and fries.

"When I go to them it's like going to McDonalds," said Gallese, a consultant at Senn-Delaney, a division of Arthur Andersen. "I like knowing there's consistency. I may not get the same person every time and it may not be the greatest cut, but I do get the convenience and the consistency."

Comments like that are why hair care chains such as Pro-Cuts, Fantastic Sams, SuperCuts and Great Clips are optimistic they can take over a growing percentage of the $40 billion hair industry now dominated by mom-and-pop beauty parlors and barbershops.

The chains say their growth comes as time-pressed consumers look for quick in-and-out service instead of the laid-back newspaper-reading, gossip-trading scene of the salons and barbershops.

"It's a reflection of today's society," said Don Stone, president and chief operating officer of Pro-Cuts. "Time is at a premium. If you can get a good haircut in 15 minutes, then why schedule an appointment two weeks in advance?"

The chains typically offer a limited array of services -- most do cuts and blow-dries, but many don't offer permanents and coloring services. Operators say that's because their clientele isn't looking to spend the two hours or so it takes for those services.

"Most women are …