New guy at sexy hair plans major fluffing up of sales.

Jim Morrison has a vision: sexy hair across the world.

Morrison is the newly minted chief executive of Chatsworth-based Sexy Hair Concepts LLC, an approximately $50 million salon products company that he plans to grow into a $250 million company in five years.

"It is a goal that we can achieve," said Morrison, former president of L'Oreal USA Inc.'s professional division. "My focus is to bring the top strategies that a half billion-dollar company uses."

Already in salons in Germany and the United Kingdom, Morrison plans to market Sexy Hair products in Japan, China, Spain, France and Italy, among other countries. Today, international sales make up 10 percent of the company's total.

"Sexy hair pretty much translates globally. A person in Japan knows what sexy hair is supposed to be, and a person in Argentina knows what sexy hair is," Morrison said.

Closer to home, Morrison said Sexy Hair can beef up its U.S. distribution in high-volume, flagship salons. He estimated that the company's products are in 35,000 of the nation's roughly 250,000 salons, including JC Penney and Regis outlets.

Large companies like L'Oreal SA and Procter & Gamble Co. dominate the U.S. salon products market, but Morrison said there's room for a smaller company to make headway. He said the personal touch is appealing to stylists.

Even though Morrison has an extensive corporate background, he wants to retain the spirit and the flexibility of an entrepreneurial venture. Michael O'Rourke, the founder of Sexy Hair who formerly started Carlton Hair International USA, remains with the company as chairman of the board.

"I am hoping to leverage those relationships and those personalities to make the company feel different than those big corporations," Morrison said. He learned that personalities were important in salons early on, from experiences with his hairdresser mother.

Sexy Hair's best-selling item is Spray and Play hairspray that costs $15 in salons. The company releases 10 to 15 new products a year.

Spreading Marmalade

Dallas-based private equity firm Parallel. Investment Partners has taken a controlling stake in Marmalade. LLC, the seven-restaurant Santa Monica-based chain that serves up enormous salads and sandwiches.

Jed Johnson, managing director of Parallel, wouldn't disclose the exact amount of Parallel's investment, but said it fell within the range of $5 million to $20 million in equity. He said Parallel expects to be involved with Marmalade for three to seven years.

"The company has the growth opportunity to become a very big business in a relatively short period of time. But we are also going to be very judicious," Johnson said. "It will take a few years for the business to get to the point where it can get to."

In the next several years, Marmalade expects to expand at a rate of two to four restaurants per year. New units will be similar to the old, around 4,000 square feet. The target locations will be lifestyle centers, the mall concept du jour that mixes entertainment, dining and fashion offerings.

A Marmalade is scheduled to open in Manhattan Beach next year. After that, possible locations include Valencia and San Diego.

Selwyn Yosslowitz, who co-founded Marmalade in 1989 with Bobby and Bonnie Bums, will stay on to run the company. In fact, Johnson said Parallel's investment was predicated on the continued role of the management team that has shepherded Marmalade so far.

"They want to get involved on this level before we get bigger," Yosslowitz said. "We have established the foundation and the brand name, and we wanted to go to the next level."

Marmalade is Parallel's first deal in the restaurant industry. And Johnson has already accomplished a nearly impossible dining feat: he has consumed almost half of the items on the Marmalade Cafe menu. He went to all the Marmalade restaurants when assessing the company prior to the investment.

"They are preparing everything from scratch. It is an approach to making food and serving it that is not available at a lot of the mid-priced casual dining chains," Johnson said. The average check for a diner at Marmalade ranges from $11 to $18.

Hotel Highlights

Kor Group Inc. is going south of the border.

Its Kor Hotel Group subsidiary has acquired the Ikal del Mar resort in Xcalacoco on the Yucatan Peninsula. The resort has 30 villas, and its purchase price was not disclosed.

Ikal is one of three Kor properties along the Mayan Riviera. The company will begin construction on the 190-unit Tides Playa del Carmen later this year. The eight-acre resort is expected to be completed in 2008.

The Tides Playa del Carmen will be very close to another planned Kor property, the Viceroy Riviera Maya Resort & Residences. The Viceroy resort should be finished around the same time as the Tides Playa.

Staff reporter Rachel Brown can be reached at [phone], ext. 224, or at [e-mail].