Guest blog by Tammy Nienaber, Great Clips Director of Communications

Back in January, I was privileged to have a conversation with a few of our long-term franchisees from the Cleveland-Akron (Canton) market. During the course of our chat, they suggested I visit the market during their annual salon managers’ recognition event (a.k.a., Top of Performing Stylists—TOPS).

I jumped at the offer. I love the culture we have at Great Clips of recognizing the people who are closest to our customers and who deliver the best service every day—the stylists. So it was an honor to be included in such a special celebration.

During the event, the franchisees serve the winning stylists lunch, a corporate representative shares a few words to express gratitude for the great accomplishments of these stylists, and awards are presented. In addition to a trophy, each winning stylist gets a greeting card with a crisp $100 bill enclosed.

The 25 TOPS winners are selected based on pre-defined criteria as determined by the franchisees in the Cleveland co-op, including how many new and repeat customers return to their salons. There’s no doubt this year’s TOPS group is a bunch of truly top performers.These guys and gals are just a small handful of nearly 30,000 Great Clips stylists, but they represent the heart and soul of what makes us great. Congrats to these top performing stylists!

2012 Cleveland TOPS Winners

Salon Name Franchisee Stylist
Avon Lake Cindy Mancini Hali Lavelle
Avon Lake Cindy Mancini Jennifer Gerbick
Avon Lake Cindy Mancini Mandy Gregor
Avon Lake Cindy Mancini Sierra Sharkey
Boston Square II Sandy DeLong Julieanne Weber-Shaw
Boston Square II Sandy DeLong Shelley Gamble
Boston Square II Sandy DeLong Tiffany Nowak
Brunswick Town Center Donna Froelich Susan Muntz
Brunswick Town Center Donna Froelich Joanna Le
Deville Center Donna Froelich Zoe Zanin
Eastgate Shopping Center David Krauss Alexandra Gerchikov
Highpoint Plaza Kathryn Rooney Amber Carsey
Highpoint Plaza Kathryn Rooney Rachael Ambrose
Mentor on the Lake Michael Wardeiner Lauren Wharton
Parma Heights Sandy DeLong Cindy Drawl
Plaza at Dover Donna Froelich Becky Hines
Plaza at Dover Donna Froelich Bonnie Belknap
Plaza at Dover Donna Froelich Chelsea Wright
Plaza at Dover Donna Froelich Dana Sawson
Shoppes at River Styx Brian Caine Beth Farage
South Euclid Donna Froelich Michele Widmann
The Shoppes of New Philadelphia Donna Froelich Karla Gardner
The Shoppes of New Philadelphia Donna Froelich Shea Robinson
Timber Ridge Plaza James Bonvissuto Debra Pesta
Walgreens Plaza David Brewer Kaylie Fitzpatrick