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70 September 2015 | beautystorebusiness.com News CHATTERS PARTNERS WITH ONCAP Intrepid Investment Bankers, a leading middle-market investment bank, announced July 17 the acquisition of its client, Chatters Canada—the largest retailer of professional haircare products in Canada and one of the largest hair-salon operators in that country—by ONCAP, the middle-market private-equity platform of Onex Corp., in partnership with the existing management team. The investment is being made by ONCAP III. "We selected Intrepid based on its extensive experience in the beauty-care industry and its knowledge of the professional-haircare sector—and it delivered," says Jason Volk, Chatters CEO. "It took the time to understand our brand, business model, vision and shareholder objectives. Its strategic advice and insights were critical throughout our process. Best of all, it found us the right partner in ONCAP, which will help us continue our momentum and build out our national platform." Mark MacTavish, ONCAP managing director, adds, "We're delighted to be partnering with Jason Volk and the entire Chatters team. Chatters is well-positioned to build upon its strong foundation, and we're excited to support its growth." Steve Davis, managing director and head of the beauty and personal-care practice at Intrepid, comments, "We were impressed from Day One with the powerful Chatters store model, brand and culture—but perhaps most impressed with the entire Chatters team. It has established a national beauty-care platform in Canada and built a truly special business. I'm confident Chatters will continue to thrive with its new partner. We're proud to have been a part of the Chatters team and look forward to seeing what Chatters and ONCAP can accomplish together." Founded in 1990 in Red Deer, Alberta, Chatters has more than 100 stores that span across eight Canadian provinces. Chatters retails more than 5,500 professional-beauty products, including leading professional-haircare brands, as well as an increasing selection of skincare, bodycare and nailcare brands and accessories. SAMPLEUP APP INTRODUCED The SampleUP App—recently launched by Fsdemo and developed with Droisys—allows consumers to obtain details about and geolo- cate free sampling or demo events throughout the United States for every kind of product and service at every kind of store, including beauty. Consumers can even rate or review events. "Let's face it: Consumers absolutely love free—whether it's food, makeup, a pet product, a cooking class, whatever," says Fsdemo vice president Ava Wilson. "Manufacturers and stores know this and are increasingly using sampling events, which generate more sales—not only for the sampled product, but for other items in-store. Until now consumers only found these events through sheer luck or coincidence, and there was almost no way of truly knowing whether consumers actually liked the sampled product."