Vietnamese men’s grooming brand East West Barbershop is turning international franchising into a growth strategy, with ambitions to take its operating model and Vietnamese barbering talent into markets beyond Asia.
Founded in Vietnam in 2018 by Nguyen Hoai Thanh, East West Barbershop, also known as Dong Tay Barbershop, has grown from a single outlet into a network of more than 130 locations across Vietnam, Thailand, China, Uzbekistan and Europe, supported by more than 1,000 barbers, according to the company.
The company is now placing international franchising at the centre of its next phase of expansion. Rather than simply licensing its brand overseas, East West Barbershop says it wants to transfer a tested operating model while creating opportunities for Vietnamese barbers to build careers in international markets.
From Local Chain to Exportable Franchise Model
East West Barbershop has developed what it calls an “Experience Barbershop” concept, moving beyond the traditional haircut model to combine grooming with leisure and lifestyle.
Its larger-format outlets can include children’s play areas, billiards, chess, piano facilities and green spaces. Services extend beyond cutting and shampooing to hair treatments, styling, massage, nail care, shoe cleaning and smartphone sterilisation. The company also operates more convenient-format stores in residential areas and shopping centres.
The model has been built around standardised operating procedures and barber training, two elements that become particularly important when a service business moves across borders.
The company’s own website currently lists 102 domestic stores, while its corporate profile describes a broader international network. This difference reflects the distinction between its Vietnam-operated footprint and its wider international network.
Franchising as an Internationalisation Tool
For East West Barbershop, franchising is being positioned as a mechanism for transferring a proven business system into markets where establishing a new service brand independently could require significant investment in locations, recruitment, marketing, regulatory compliance and customer acquisition.
Nguyen Hoai Thanh, Chairman of East West Barbershop Vietnam JSC, said international franchise partners can shorten the time needed to establish operations while reducing some of the upfront costs and risks associated with building a new brand from scratch. “This is an opportunity for Vietnamese service brands like ours to gradually enter global markets through franchising, rather than limiting our growth to the domestic market,” Thanh said.
The strategy follows several years of overseas experimentation. East West Barbershop opened its first Chinese location in 2024 and has subsequently developed a presence across other international markets. Its approach has been to retain the core elements of its model while adapting the customer experience to local consumption habits.
U.S. Expansion Raises the Stakes
The company has also identified the United States as an important next test for its international model.
In August, East West Barbershop said it was preparing to enter the U.S., describing the country as one of the most competitive markets in the global barbershop industry.
The challenge is significant. The U.S. already has established franchise-led grooming chains including Great Clips, Supercuts and Sport Clips, meaning East West Barbershop will need to compete not only on price but also on brand differentiation, customer experience, operating consistency and workforce capability.
Thanh said the company chose the U.S. precisely because of the market’s competitiveness, arguing that success there would demonstrate that a business model developed in Vietnam can be transferred successfully to a mature international market.
Exporting More Than a Franchise
East West Barbershop’s international strategy also has a workforce dimension.
The company says it is investing in professional training, standardised technical skills and service procedures so that its customer experience can be replicated across markets. It also says it supports barbers with training, overseas legal procedures and workplace adaptation, alongside housing and education assistance.
That makes the franchise proposition broader than simply giving overseas investors access to a brand name and operating system. The company is attempting to build a talent pipeline that can move Vietnamese barbering skills alongside the brand itself.
East West Barbershop says it has already trained hundreds of students through its vocational programmes; its website reports more than 500 graduates and a 90% immediate employment rate.
The company has also linked its expansion to social initiatives, including vocational training for young people and free mobile barbering services.
A Different Route to Global Franchise Growth
East West Barbershop’s strategy reflects a broader shift in service franchising, where the value of a franchise increasingly depends on the systems behind the brand rather than the physical outlet alone.
For a barbershop, international replication requires consistency in everything from technical skills and customer service to recruitment, training, store design and local compliance. East West Barbershop is attempting to package those elements into a model that can operate across different markets while retaining its Vietnamese identity.
With more than 130 locations internationally and a workforce of more than 1,000 barbers, the company has already built a sizeable operating base. Its next challenge is to prove that the model can be transferred successfully through international franchising, particularly into highly competitive markets such as the U.S.
If successful, East West Barbershop’s expansion could represent something more significant than another Vietnamese brand going global: it could demonstrate how a locally developed service business can turn its operating system, franchise model and skilled workforce into an international export.
