Operations

The relocation of the Gene Juarez Bellevue salon in 2017 was the opportunity the company had been waiting for to update and re-energize our long-established brand. Bellevue, sitting across the lake from Seattle, has become a magnet for Millennials, and that’s a demographic our group needed to attract if it …

Dry Bar is the classic model for rapid scaling. It has a narrow remit with a well-developed, hugely attractive brand identity. To quote founder Alli Webb: ‘Our philosophy is simple. Focus on one thing and be the best at it. For us that’s blowouts.’ In seven years we’ve gone from …

Local nail salons have dominated the manicure and pedicure market for decades, providing an affordable, fast option to grooming for the time-poor woman (and man) looking for a quick yet luxurious service. But what if she had the option of a manicure while hair color develops or a quick shape …

Forty years ago most, if not all, salons closed up shop after a busy Saturday and stayed closed until Tuesday morning. Sunday and Monday were the beauty industry’s weekend. That was what our competition did when my wife, Elaine, and I pushed open the doors of our first Hairzoo salon …

Over the past seven years we’ve opened 82 Dry Bars, each one growing our reputation as much as our team. It’s been an ambitious program of growth. But we still face the same challenges as everyone else: finding the right location and filling it with the right people. Our size …

The competitive landscape is so different now compared to just 10 years ago that the industry must continually look for innovative ways to tie the customer closer to the salon and spa as place to buy product. As every salon group knows, it’s a struggle. However, stylists’ competitions have proved …

When Amazon was founded back in 1994, it sold books. From that moment the writing was on the wall for book stores. The online merchant then moved into electronics, hoovering up demand for the latest gadgets and household goods. Now, the giant marketplace accounts for 50 per cent of all …

Online has cannibalized professional retailing, but the fight back has begun. Late last year, ISBN hosted a crucial webinar entitled Coping with Virtual Competition to ponder the problem of e-commerce. ISBN vice-president Pat Neville, Beauty First, along with Peninsula Beauty COO Jerret Shaar, Salon Spa Ultimate president Sean Maney, and …

The next few years are predicted by some to be a bumpy ride. The explosion of the freelance economy along with the challenges facing cosmetology schools will mean an ever-shrinking pool of qualified, experienced people for salons to fight over. We are facing nothing less than a war for talent …

Ten years ago, just when the industry was making real headway with retail, the arrival of online shops didn’t sound any alarm bells. Five per cent a year lost to Amazon and others wasn’t such a big deal. But a decade later, the stats show that online retail sales are …