COVID-19’s Effects on the Salon Industry Might Be Permanent

Following weeks of sheltering-in-place, I considered my reflection in the mirror 1 day: hair which hasn’t been from a ponytail, face pallid and devoid of cosmetics, brows unruly, delicate lines observable as a result of evaporating Botox, ragged cuticles. The grays aren’t peeping through yet, but give it a couple weeks, and I’ll be submitting my headshot into the Grombre Instagram community.

Right now, I don’t care about the way I look. I’m concerned about my loved ones and friends and the world at large. I’m thankful to have a secure place to stay. However, I know that I will maintenance . From the Before TimesI compensated six specialists to help me keep my look. However, due to the nature of their tasks — touching individuals, something clearly can’t be achieved out of a six-foot social space — most of them are from work today. Every business was affected by coronavirus shutdowns, but for hairdressers and other hands on attractiveness providers, it’s been devastating.

Stylists frequently see five to five 10 customers each day. Melana Baca, a hair stylist in the Cili The Salon & Day Spa in Denver, functioned 10-hour , three days each week. Now, she’s home indefinitely. “Our livelihood had been dropped immediately,” she states.

From the U.S., the salon and health spa business climbed over 1.2 million companies earning more than $57 billion in earnings, based on some 2019 Professional Beauty Association (PBA) report. Underneath the Chair, a company with tens of thousands of followers which affirms hairdressers with education and events, has been surveying thousands of its members throughout the past couple of months to find a feeling of exactly how dire it’s. About 72 percent of hair salon employees polled stated that they live paycheck-to-paycheck or have just about a month’s worth of cash reserves to reside on. Approximately 23 percent reported having no medical insurance.

In normal conditions, stylists make money a number of unique ways. Nearly all the Behind the Chair respondents stated that $50 to $150 was their average ticket price, but isn’t necessarily what they take home for each service they perform. Some are salon employees who earn a percentage of the cost of the service, which generally varies from 30 to 60 percent, according to Behind the Chair founder and creative director Mary Rector. They also get tips and commission on products they sell in the salon. Some stylists, like Baca, lease a space in a salon and pay a weekly rent (Baca says she pays $169 for three days per week), but can keep the full price of their services plus tips. Some are totally independent and have their own spaces or make house calls.

Then, there are the salon owners. For these entrepreneurs, margins are usually tight, too. “A good salon makes only 5 to 6 percent on the bottom line and has to have the owner working with a full book [of clients],” says Rector. Monthly business expenses can include everything from payroll, products, cleaning services, utilities, marketing, and, of course, there is location rent.

Unfortunately, all of these costs don’t disappear just because a pandemic has decimated income. Jessica Wall-Innella, who owns the Renaissance Salon in Ronkonkoma, New York (a suburb of New York City) says her landlord is “working with” her, but she has heard from her peers this other landlords are threatening legal action if salon owners don’t pay and accounts of landlords refusing to waive rent for retailers are accumulating, based on a March 29 report from CNBC.