A Quebec barbershop brand that began as a single location in 2014 has grown to eight outlets across the province and is now expanding its retail footprint through a partnership aimed at reaching the mass market.
Maxime Bellemare, founder and chief executive of KRWN, said the company has steadily built a network of seven barbershops and one tattoo shop while developing its own line of hair products designed by barbers rather than laboratory technicians.
“We officially started in 2014,” Bellemare said in an interview, noting the concept had been in development for up to a year before opening. “We have seven barbershops and one tattoo shop.”
The company’s locations stretch from Beauce–Saint-Georges near the Maine border to Quebec City, where the business began, as well as Trois-Rivières and Montreal. In addition, KRWN supports what it calls a certified partner salon in Gaspé operating under a different name Au 55. The entrepreneur there approached the company seeking guidance after seeing its model, Bellemare said.
“He said, ‘I saw what you guys are doing. I want to do the same. There’s a market here,’” Bellemare recalled. The company provides ongoing coaching and training to the salon and its staff.
KRWN’s growth has also included an expansion into branded hair-care products. Bellemare said the line was developed “behind the chair,” with barbers working directly with chemists to create formulas tailored to practical needs in the shop.
“One of the main differentiators for us is that instead of having a bunch of lab guys building formulas, we really depended on and based it on the behind-the-chair aspect of it,” he said. The company began with four products and now offers between 10 and 12.
Initially, distribution focused on professional channels. The products are sold in KRWN’s own locations and in other barbershops and hair salons, including female-only salons. Bellemare said the line was designed to be inclusive, with scents and formulations suitable for a broad clientele.
“We wanted to be the barbers for the barbers in making products for them,” he said.
More recently, the company adjusted its strategy to pursue broader retail distribution. Bellemare said KRWN partnered with a large Quebec-based company, Eleganza, which operates in the professional hair-product retail sector.
“Along with them, we worked on a project, and then we were able to open accounts with all of the retailers in the province,” he said.
Bellemare described the shift as consistent with the brand’s positioning. While emphasizing product quality, he said the company does not intend to target the luxury segment.
“We have high-quality products, but we don’t want to reach a market of luxury or anything. We want to make it for the people,” he said.
That philosophy extends to the barbershop model itself. Bellemare said KRWN aims to be a “traditional modern barbershop” serving a wide cross-section of clients.
“We have people who are millionaires coming to get a haircut, and we also have people from all kinds of trades,” he said. “We have people coming out of jail and judges sitting next to each other in the chair. Once they have that cape, they’re equal.”
The company’s name reflects both branding ambitions and trade terminology. KRWN stands for “Crown,” referencing the crown of a king as well as the crown of the head, which Bellemare described as a technical foundation point for haircuts.
As the company launched, Bellemare said he deliberately chose a stylized spelling as part of a broader branding strategy.
“We wanted to write history our own way and do things our own way,” he said.
The name was developed with his brother, Pierre Alexander, an artist who had worked in graffiti and tattooing. Bellemare said his brother selected the letters K, R, W and N because they were his preferred characters to tag and design in graphic art, while Bellemare focused on articulating the business’s values and vision.
“It was kind of a joint venture between the two brothers — one very creative, very artistic, and the other one more visionary and value-oriented,” he said.
While Bellemare did not outline specific financial targets, he framed the retail push and provincial footprint as steps in building a brand rooted in accessibility rather than exclusivity.
“We always saw KRWN, our brand and our ethos, as a brand for the people, as a company for the people,” he said.
From a single opening in Quebec City in 2014, the company has expanded across multiple regions of the province, added a tattoo operation and built a growing product line now reaching retailers provincewide. Bellemare said the strategy has evolved, but the underlying focus remains constant.
“That’s the base value for everything that we do,” he said.
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