Sorbet (South Africa)

Last updated

Sorbet
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Beauty
Founded2005;20 years ago (2005)
FounderIan Fuhr [1]
Headquarters Cape Town, South Africa
Number of locations
200+ (2025) [2]
Area served
South Africa
BrandsSorbet (salons)
Sorbet Nailbar
Sorbet Hairbar
Sorbet MAN
Candi&Co [1]
Services Beauty salon services
Parent Clicks
Website sorbet.co.za

Sorbet (officially Sorbet Group) is a South African chain of beauty salons, owned by major retail company Clicks. Founded in 2005, the chain is headquartered in Cape Town, and operates over 200 stores across South Africa. [3] [4]

Contents

History

Sorbet was founded in 2005, by South African businessman Ian Fuhr. He bought and rebranded six existing beauty salons with the proceeds of selling his Super Mart store brand to Edcon Group. [1]

In 2015, major South African retail chain Clicks bought a 25% shareholding in Sorbet Brands, which holds the Sorbet intellectual property. [5]

In 2017, Sorbet was acquired by public company Long4Life. The latter was then acquired by Old Mutual Private Equity. [1]

After 14 years, founder Ian Fuhr left Sorbet in February 2019, to found a new company (The Hatch Institute). [1]

In November 2022, South African retail company Clicks announced that it would be buying Sorbet Holdings from Old Mutual Private Equity for R105 million. At the time, the chain had over 190 stores. Clicks said that the Sorbet brand had a natural strategic fit with its existing stores. [5] [6]

As part of the Clicks acquisition, customers would begin to be able to earn rewards points at Sorbet using Clicks ClubCard. Furthermore, a new range of Sorbet-branded products was launched in Clicks and Sorbet stores exclusively. [7]

Clicks' purchase of Sorbet was approved by the South African Competition Commission with conditions, which included the advancement of black ownership across the Sorbet franchises, increasing local manufacturing of Sorbet-branded goods, and specific training of Sorbet staff. Clicks did not acquire Sorbet Independent Salons, which would operate independently from the franchise. Clicks also agreed to fund the startup costs for at least five Sorbet franchisees from historically disadvantaged groups. [8]

Operations

The company operates over 200 stores across South Africa, under a franchise model. [2] Stores include Sorbet (salons), Sorbet Nailbar, Sorbet Hairbar, Sorbet MAN, and Candi&Co. [1]

As of 2025, Sorbet performs 3.6 million beauty treatments per year, across all of its stores. [1] The company supplies products from numerous international personal care brands. [7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kirsten Minnaar (6 October 2025). "The man behind South Africa's largest beauty salon chain has a new job". Daily Investor. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Sorbet - Franchise". Sorbet. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  3. ↑ "Sorbet - Homepage". Sorbet. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  4. ↑ OnPoint PR (15 July 2024). "Sorbet partners with Bidvest Bank to boost female entrepreneurship in South Africa". Bizcommunity.com. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Clicks Group To Acquire Sorbet Beauty Salons". Clicks. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  6. ↑ PropertyWheel_G (24 November 2022). "Clicks Group To Acquire Sorbet Holdings For R105m". Property Wheel. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  7. 1 2 "Sorbet Story". Sorbet. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  8. ↑ Luke Fraser (5 June 2023). "Clicks finalises R105 million Sorbet deal". BusinessTech. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
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