Groundbreaking Study Defines the Booth Rental Market

How does the issue of booth rental impact you? Chances are, you either rent space or you rent out all or a portion of your business to independent contractors or you work in or own a salon that competes against businesses that do. Depending where fall on this spectrum, the subject of booth rental and how it impacts the overall industry can be a very hot topic, and one that incites some strong opinions.

But how prevalent is booth rental in the U.S, and how fast is it growing? Until recently, that question left most industry leaders making an educated guess.

For the first time, a new study recently released by Professional Consultants and Resources, defines the booth rental market in the United States, including the current different models of booth rental and how companies should market to independent stylists. According to the 2011 PCR Booth Rental Study, booth rentals are already prevalent in 35 percent of salons and by 2015, nearly 50 percent of all U.S. salons will offer some form of the booth rental model.

“While independent artistic salons catering to high-end clients will always play an important role in the professional salon industry marketplace, this business model will continue to lose market share to booth rentals and chain salons,” says Cyrus Bulsara, president of Professional Consultants and Resources. “The most likely outcome will be the evolution of new hybrids that combine the best client- and stylist-centric practices from all three business models.”

The landmark, comprehensive study on the U.S. booth rental market provides an in-depth look into a number of aspects of this fast-growing segment of salons; including detailed analysis, insights, trends, projections and opportunities needed for manufacturers, distributors and chain salons to capitalize on the trend. The study also provides a snapshot of booth rental and its impact on the entire salon landscape. According to PCR, salon industry veterans with more than 50 years of experience in marketing, sales and education collaborated to produce this study.

“The study helps to demystify this exploding growth sales channel by clearly delineating all aspects of the models,” explains Bulsara. “It identifies both challenges and opportunities for all types of salon organizations, as well as for marketing/sales organizations selling to booth rentals. The study also contains a detailed topline analysis of pertinent salon industry data: market size, category size, segment size, channels, salon services data by type and all major trends impacting the salon industry in 2011.”