Salon Today - October 2008 - (Page 33)

R ella Grubek, owner of Salon 21 Day Spa and Hair Salon in Wheaton, Illinois, thought she had been paying attention to the needs of her female clients when they asked her to “plump up” their hair, make it “look thicker” or style it so that “it’s full on top.” She thought offering a scalp service, applying a conditioning treatment or selling a thickening styling aid was the answer to her clients’ requests. Then, about 15 years ago, the brutal fact hit her—her clients were losing their hair, and she wasn’t doing a darned thing about it. “I saw that no matter what product I put on that client’s head, she still was not walking out of here feeling good about herself,” says Grubek. “We’ve all seen the combover on men; it’s not attractive. Women make similar attempts.” Grubek knew she had to do something more, so she researched the causes of hair loss, took courses in styling wigs and hair pieces and talked with companies that sold topical application products. Caren Miranda tells a similar tale. Like Grubek, she launched her business in the mid-’80s, starting out like any other full-service salon, and shortly thereafter grew aware that the everyday cut-and-style service was leaving behind an entire segment of her clientele. “We were having so many clients either with long-term hair loss issues or temporary hair loss from chemotherapy,” says Miranda, co-owner of At the Top Hair Salon and Gallery in Mill Valley, California. “Your clients become your friends and family, and you just feel compelled to help them. That’s why I began educating myself about hair pieces and wigs.” Enhancement Education Miranda and Grubek agree that extensive education and targeted training are critical to success and credibility in the hair loss ﬁeld, and both owners found the creative, emotional and ﬁnancial rewards well worth the effort. Word-of-mouth now brings Grubek hair enhancement clients from many miles away, while Miranda’s thriving business has inspired her to open a second salon, Hair Solutions, limited to hair enhancement and replacement services. But while this salon service category is endlessly fascinating, it’s also quite complex, getting only more so as time goes on and science develops new strategies for attacking hair loss. In addition, hair enhancement isn’t only about serving balding men, shedding women and clients with medically related hair loss; there’s also what Grubek labels the “fun side.” The ethnic market has a long history of using wigs and hair extensions to give clients options for changing their hair texture and volume, while among Caucasian clients the recent popularity of ultra-long looks in tandem with celebrities’ openness about how they instantly achieve waist-length hair has generated a playful menu of new services. Hair Extensions Having become a mainstream service, hair extensions frequently introduce a salon to the world of hair enhancement. Requiring stylist expertise and up to ﬁve hours of the client’s time, extensions can generate high proﬁtability. Salon 21, for example, sets a price range of $300 to $2,500, and the service builds additional revenue because the hair must be cut and, usually, colored. While extensions are thought of as a quick way to create longer hair, achieving fullness can also be the sole purpose for adding strands of hair. Color is another incentive, driving a growing market of clients who want chunky, bright red highlights peeking through when they hit the club scene Saturday night and their solid brunette locks returned for work on Monday morning. “If you’re not doing hair extensions, you have fewer options,” says Robert Heim, managing director of Hairdreams human hair extensions. “For people whose hair doesn’t grow past their shoulders or doesn’t grow fast enough for them, you have nothing to offer.” The tricky part of adding extensions to your menu is choosing a method of attachment and training your staff, since your effort will backﬁre if the point of attachment is visible or the hair comes off in the shower. Common attachment techniques include clipping, weaving and bonding or gluing. Hairdreams requires users to be licensed hairdressers who complete a certiﬁcation process that includes a two- to three-day training class. “We’ll have you meet with our representative, and we do research to check and make sure we know who’s using our products,” Heim says. Hair U Wear, the parent company to Great Lengths extensions, similarly requires stylists to take a multi-day training program to be certiﬁed in the process of bonding the line’s human hair to the client’s hair. “We’re very education focused,” says company president Michael Napolitano, whose brands span the hair additions market: American Hairlines hair systems for men; Gabor wigs for mature women; the Raquel Welch wigs and extensions; Jessica Simpson and Ken Paves Hairdo line of extensions; and Put On Pieces (POP). Clip-ins like the synthetic POP line have the advantage of providing a retail option; salon clients can purchase and clip them into their hair themselves. But while bridal salons have been open to stocking a full display of clip-in samples, hair salons have largely missed this potentially lucrative market, according to Cindi KoeppMabadi, president of Hair a la Carte, makers of a “signature style to go” line of clip-ins. The stylist can charge an add-on fee for creating the wedding look with the clip-in the bride brings in, but Koepp-Mabadi feels the salon also should be carrying the extensions and beneﬁt from the sale of the hair. “My research shows that the consumer wants this option but doesn’t know where to ﬁnd it,” Koepp-Mabadi says. “These extensions are targeted to clients who want change but not a big commitment to long hair. They can keep their short hair and still have a big updo or a long ponytail whenever they want.” > www.salontoday.com October 2008 | 33 http://www.salontoday.com

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Salon Today - October 2008 Contents Note Reception Fashion Sense Spa Menu Roundtable Decor Blue Hair Studio Fully Booked Special Report: The Business of Hair Enhancement Products Owner to Owner

Salon Today - October 2008

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