21:58
Faizan
The Professional Beauty Industry as I once knew it, is dead. Having spent the past forty five years in our once proud industry at every level, my purpose in writing this article is to document by decade, starting with the 60's which is when I came into the industry, the dynamics that drove that decade with the evolution of the Industry moving forward, so we can all see where everything started shifting negatively and where the industry is today as a result of the evolutionary process over the decades.
Salons, once a haven for women, have become Independent Stylists leasing space from the landlord / salon owner. Professional only products have become commodity products purchased on price and found everywhere, especially outside the salon.
The large distributors are now owned by the corporate giants, leaving a landscape with small distributors fighting the system and losing the battle to a marketplace never seen before in our industry. The 60's were all about wet sets, women visiting their stylist at their favorite salon every week to redo their do. During this decade, the old guard manufacturers were Revlon, Lamaur, Helen Curtis, Rilling, Clairol, Roux, and others that generated their income primarily though salons. Early during this decade, Paula Kent purchased from Jheri Redding 3 simple formulas and started a company called Redken Labs. At the same time an English stylist, Vidal Sasson, had started a movement that would literally turn heads upside down as his message was "Let the haircut be the blueprint for the style.", which opened the door for salons to expand their business as they were working on the same 50 clients each week. In a month's time, they still only worked with the same 50 clients. When hair cutting became the trend, stylists focused on hair cutting were now seeing a different 50 clients each week, now totaling 200 a month, opening the door to additional revenue.
The 70's saw the emergence of more manufacturers following the Redken model, seeing the entry of Sebastian in 1976 and Nexus in 1979. The focus of these new manufacturers was to help the salon build a whole new business called retail, eventually opening the flood gates to greater income for all. In the 70's many Redken concept salons were competing with their service business to increase retail sales to 25% of their gross, which in turn opened up profitability to levels never seen before. Redken Labs grew exponentially based on their Beauty through Science philosophy and the newer entries such as Sebastian and Nexus were setting their own standards to compete in the new direction of the industry. Chemical services in salons, in particular perms, drove huge numbers at all levels and manufacturers were starting to phase in new products to support the shift in clients' needs for their maintenance free hair. Education was also on the rise, as salons wanted to know as much as possible about the products supporting their services and the new retail income stream that was on the rise.
The 80's was a decade with consistent growth and power for the new manufacturers. Paul Mitchell and Matrix Essentials came into the market in 1981 and we now had five new, aspiring and growing companies driving the growth of salons through their direct leadership and were becoming so strong that there was an additional shift from the leadership of the aforementioned manufacturers found in the 60's to the top five leaders that drove the 80's with their philosophy, products, and education. During this decade, salon retail went through the roof, as salon clients were an easy target for professional products that were exclusive to the professional salon. Big hair was the rage which opened the door to newer products that supported this trend. During this period, Beauty Supplies were allowed to represent and carry professional products, as long as they had a shampoo bowl and offered services as part of their in store layout. Unfortunately, this was one of the first areas where the manufacturer lost control and opened the door to price cutting, non adherence to policies, and professional products starting to show up in less than professional outlets.This decade also saw the rise of the Independents, eroding the old system of commission salons where the owner hired stylists as employees and grew their business as a team oriented effort. Now the majority of salons nationwide is nothing more than lease spaces for anyone willing to pay their space fees. Products are harder to position in salons because every stylist can make their own decision as to what they use and sell and education has gone by the wayside as a salon owner cannot mandate that his lessors have to attend any educational events.
Salons, once a haven for women, have become Independent Stylists leasing space from the landlord / salon owner. Professional only products have become commodity products purchased on price and found everywhere, especially outside the salon.
The large distributors are now owned by the corporate giants, leaving a landscape with small distributors fighting the system and losing the battle to a marketplace never seen before in our industry. The 60's were all about wet sets, women visiting their stylist at their favorite salon every week to redo their do. During this decade, the old guard manufacturers were Revlon, Lamaur, Helen Curtis, Rilling, Clairol, Roux, and others that generated their income primarily though salons. Early during this decade, Paula Kent purchased from Jheri Redding 3 simple formulas and started a company called Redken Labs. At the same time an English stylist, Vidal Sasson, had started a movement that would literally turn heads upside down as his message was "Let the haircut be the blueprint for the style.", which opened the door for salons to expand their business as they were working on the same 50 clients each week. In a month's time, they still only worked with the same 50 clients. When hair cutting became the trend, stylists focused on hair cutting were now seeing a different 50 clients each week, now totaling 200 a month, opening the door to additional revenue.
The 70's saw the emergence of more manufacturers following the Redken model, seeing the entry of Sebastian in 1976 and Nexus in 1979. The focus of these new manufacturers was to help the salon build a whole new business called retail, eventually opening the flood gates to greater income for all. In the 70's many Redken concept salons were competing with their service business to increase retail sales to 25% of their gross, which in turn opened up profitability to levels never seen before. Redken Labs grew exponentially based on their Beauty through Science philosophy and the newer entries such as Sebastian and Nexus were setting their own standards to compete in the new direction of the industry. Chemical services in salons, in particular perms, drove huge numbers at all levels and manufacturers were starting to phase in new products to support the shift in clients' needs for their maintenance free hair. Education was also on the rise, as salons wanted to know as much as possible about the products supporting their services and the new retail income stream that was on the rise.
The 80's was a decade with consistent growth and power for the new manufacturers. Paul Mitchell and Matrix Essentials came into the market in 1981 and we now had five new, aspiring and growing companies driving the growth of salons through their direct leadership and were becoming so strong that there was an additional shift from the leadership of the aforementioned manufacturers found in the 60's to the top five leaders that drove the 80's with their philosophy, products, and education. During this decade, salon retail went through the roof, as salon clients were an easy target for professional products that were exclusive to the professional salon. Big hair was the rage which opened the door to newer products that supported this trend. During this period, Beauty Supplies were allowed to represent and carry professional products, as long as they had a shampoo bowl and offered services as part of their in store layout. Unfortunately, this was one of the first areas where the manufacturer lost control and opened the door to price cutting, non adherence to policies, and professional products starting to show up in less than professional outlets.This decade also saw the rise of the Independents, eroding the old system of commission salons where the owner hired stylists as employees and grew their business as a team oriented effort. Now the majority of salons nationwide is nothing more than lease spaces for anyone willing to pay their space fees. Products are harder to position in salons because every stylist can make their own decision as to what they use and sell and education has gone by the wayside as a salon owner cannot mandate that his lessors have to attend any educational events.
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