MENU
SEARCHKnown as the founder of American Crew and its artistic director, David Raccuglia and Paul Wilson also are the owners of Art + Science, a chain of four salons in the greater Chicagoland area. As they witnessed the growth of American Crew ...
Two barbering chairs, oak stations, and American Crew imagery set a distinct masculine tone in the space.
Known as the founder of American Crew and its artistic director, David Raccuglia and Paul Wilson also are the owners of Art + Science, a chain of four salons in the greater Chicagoland area. As they witnessed the growth of American Crew and the explosion of the global barbering movement, they started studying their own salons, thinking about how welcoming the environment was to prospective male clients.
“We wanted to get every guy from surrounding neighborhoods to become Art + Science clients and felt we needed to create an actual physical space they could go to,” Wilson says. “We have always done great men’s hair, we just never had a space that was specifically for men—opening up a barbershop within our salons just made sense.”
So the owners designated 250 square feet of their 3,400-square-foot Evanston location as an in-salon barbershop and named it Crew Space. With an authentic barber pole, leather and metal barber chairs, refurbished-looking oak stations and framed black-and-white pictures of men sporting classic styles, the space is “brutally masculine,” says Wilson. “Clients who sit in the barber chairs talk about the imagery of the haircuts they see, which are rotated around periodically to keep the design fresh. We include looks that David and I have shot over the years.”
While Art + Science is promoting the Crew Space through its website, blog and social media, it’s primary driver is word of mouth, and its best marketers are the female clients of Art + Science. “With it being so prominent within our salon, we get a lot of questions about it,” says Wilson. “As a result, we’ve attracted many of our clients’ husbands, boyfriends, brothers and friends.”
Wilson has designed specific promotions for Crew Space guests. “We have been marketing a membership called ‘The Year of Grooming,’—it’s a year’s worth of haircuts, discounts and products,” he says. “We also have a three-pack offer for first-timer customers only—they purchase two haircuts and get one free. It’s getting a very good response.”
The experimental Crew Space has been a home run for Art + Science. “We’ve been booked solid for a couple of months,” Wilson says. ” “It has increased our overall business tremendously. I predict we have almost maxed out on what it can do for this particular space (Art + Science in Evanston) but we are looking into expanding the space into other locations.”
Based on Art + Science’s success, American Crew is now offering a Crew Space kit for salon owners interested in opening up their own barbershop-within-a-salon. “American Crew sets up the space and offers everything that’s included in it from the station, chairs and mirrors to the wall imagery,” says Wilson.
Salon Name: Art + Science
City/State: Evanston, Illinois
Website:www.artandsciencesalon.com
Name of Owners: Paul Wilson and David Raccuglia
Year Business Established: 1989
Year Crew Space was established: 2014
Square Footage of entire salon: 3,400
Square Footage of crew space: 250
Number of Barbering Stations: 2
Equipment by: Takara Belmont
Furniture by: Custom
Retail lines: American Crew, Baxter of California, MensDept, Bumble and bumble, Shu Uemura
Builder: Jeff Eigel
Architect: Bob Wilson
Designer: Paul Wilson and David Raccuglia
Pagoda, a new AI-native operating system for scheduling, payments, patient records, marketing, and client communications, launches at Skinovatio Medical Spa in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
At a panel discussion hosted by L’Oréal Professionnel in Paris in early July, French Philosopher Sophie Galabru explored the cultural shift where women are increasingly choosing natural, personalized color results over traditional grey coverage. In an exclusive interview with SALON TODAY, Galabru and L’Oréal Professionnel Colorist Pierrick Beringer discuss this shift and how salons and colorists respond.
At Salon Blonde, Director of Operations treats the staff as the salon's most important guests, while her wonderful 'nerdy' side, loves data, systems, and numbers. Find out how she makes Salon Blonde tick.
In an exclusive interview with SALON TODAY, Salon Owner Salvatore Minardi reflects on his past 18 months as Intercoiffure America Canada's World Talent Exchange Ambassador and how his experiences will help encourage cultural and artistic exchange and support greater engagement between ICA and the global organization Intercoiffure Mondial.
Everything you need to know about client retention as a salon owner.
Owner Shelby Bills says her general manager, Sydney Osborne, reminds her of the power of leading with heart. Find out how Osborne became a great leader in our lastest installment of Meet the Manager.
In her latest blog, Kati Whitledge identifies the five stages salon owners go through when a team member leaves the salon unethically, offering advice for each stage.
The beauty and wellness businesses pulling ahead aren’t just working harder—they’re using AI to capture demand, personalize pricing, and convert more of every guest interaction into revenue. Here’s what the benchmark data reveals about the growing gap between AI adopters and everyone else.
Sponsored by Zenoti
Stop chasing recruitment ghosts on generic job boards and start curating an elite team. Discover the framework that top-tier salons use to bypass phone tag, automate visual portfolio vetting, and attract high-earning, culture-first beauty professionals directly through real-time messaging. Turn your recruitment process into an exclusive brand invitation that keeps your highest-ticket chairs permanently filled.
Sponsored by Beautista
Your calendar looks full, but is all of that demand actually converting to revenue? From phantom rebookings to underpriced peak hours, the 2026 Benchmark Report exposes five revenue leaks that most beauty and wellness businesses don’t even know they have.
Sponsored by Zenoti
After moving to Colorado and teaching at a cosmetology school, Allison Stock joined Zandi K as a stylist, eventually becoming part of the Leadership Team, Education Team and Master Bridal Team. Today, as Director of Operation, Stock is Owner Nicki Wenz's right hand, managing human resources and operations, education and career development, and coaching and culture.
In a world dominated by e-commerce, salon owners push back with proven strategies to increase retail sales while motivating team members to educate their clientele and delighting clients with retail-themed events and clever merchandising displays.
The company's Concealed Bead Method is raising the bar for what professional extension education can deliver.
Scott maximized her micro-salon by transitioning from stylist to strategic owner, focusing on recruiting and station-sharing. By prioritizing her ownership role over behind-the-chair work, she grew her team to six stylists within the two-chair, 150-square-foot space before eventually moving to a larger facility.
The former CFO of Perdue Farms and owner of Hardy Seafood, Terry Owens delivers a wealth of wisdom and strategies for entrepreneurs in his new book, "Business is Simple."
After scaling her single-location salon business, SALON TODAY 200 Honoree Amy Pal recently sold her six-location Whip Salon for seven figures. Using the six Ps for maximizing a business's value, she's ready to help her peers do the same.
Buried inside the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are federal solar tax credit changes that deserve your attention now. Two of the credits that matter most to commercial property owners, the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit, are still available, but only if you move fast. A third, the Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Deduction, has a hard termination date that is closer than most people realize.
