Inventory Contol is a balancing act. Run too low on product and you miss valuable sales, carry too much and you’re tying up money that could better be used elsewhere. The strongest salons master take tight control, while always creatively ...
Sarah Wisda and Christy Vowers, owners of Aura Salon and Day Spa in Scottsdale, AZ.
5 min to read
Inventory Contol is a balancing act. Run too low on product and you miss valuable sales, carry too much and you’re tying up money that could better be used elsewhere. The strongest salons master take tight control, while always creatively seeking new avenues for retail sales.
A NEW BEGINNING, INC. Bethel, CT anbsalonspa.com Carol St. Amand Romer SQUARE FEET: 6,000 TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 37 AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $60 RETAIL INVESTMENT: $22,000 BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda COLOR: Aveda TECH SUPPORT: Millennium, Demandforce, Spaboom ASSOCIATIONS: PBA, Chamber of Commerce “We keep a pre-order list for guests and order these items when we place a new order. This way we don’t run out of the best-selling products.”
ATELIER STUDIO San Jose, CA ateliersalon.com Karie Bennett SQUARE FEET: 1,600; 1,500 TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 50 AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $75 RETAIL INVESTMENT: $150,000 BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda COLOR: Aveda TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce “Our system starts by having a specific place for used profession items to go. We call this our Adjustment Bin, and everything placed in this bin is scanned out through the software. Broken equipment like blowdryers, brushes and hair tools also go in the bin, triggering us to order new appliances so we don’t run low on vital equipment.”
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AURA SALON & DAY SPA Scottsdale, AZ aura-salon.com Sarah Wisda, Christy Vowers and Michael Ament SQUARE FEET: 2,100 TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 36 AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $78 RETAIL INVESTMENT: $100,000 BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Kerastase, Bumble and Bumble, DevaCurl COLOR: Goldwell TECH SUPPORT: Millennium, Demandforce ASSOCIATIONS: The Day Spa Association, PBA “Every week we have an employee who comes in after hours and counts one haircare line, one spa line, retail and backbar. During the count, she removes every product off the shelf and cleans the shelves as well as the backbar area.”
AVALON SALON AND DAY SPA Deer Park, IL avalondeerpark.com Bonnie and August Conte, Shyla and Rick Kurnick SQUARE FEET: 5,200 TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 50 AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $65 RETAIL INVESTMENT: $45,000 BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda COLOR: Aveda TECH SUPPORT: Millennium, Demandforce, Spa Boom ASSOCIATIONS: CC, PBA, The Day Spa Association “Existing stock is rotated to the front of the shelves and the new shipment is placed behind. Each week, we spot-check a particular domain (hair/skin/aromas) to make sure the on-hand count matches what is on the shelf.”
CENTRE SALON, FASHION PLACE Murray, UT centresalon.com James F. Pacifico SQUARE FEET: 1,400 TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 12 AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $32 RETAIL INVESTMENT: $65,000 BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda COLOR: Aveda TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce “We meet with our manufacturer’s salon development partner three times a month. The meetings range from product knowledge classes, updating shelves for changing schematics, coaching employees on successful retailing and event planning.”
CHARISMA INNER BEAUTY — OUTWARD Wichita, KS charismainnerbeauty.com Robin Wolfe SQUARE FEET: 5,000; 2,500 TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 33 AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $47 RETAIL INVESTMENT: $28,000 BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda COLOR: Aveda TECH SUPPORT: Mikal, Constant Contact “We selected the member of our team who is the most enthusiastic about product and has excellent retail sales to be part of our Aveda mentor program. She attends meetings with our DSL to learn about new products and how ingredients are sources. She shares what she’s learned with the staff and leads product launches.”
EVOLVE SALON AND SPA Center Valley, PA evolvesalonspa.com Alan Robell and John Riniker SQUARE FEET: 3,700 TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 34 AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $55 RETAIL INVESTMENT: $35,000 BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda COLOR: Aveda TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce ASSOCIATION: PBA “Peter Millard, author of Reinventing Space for Salons and Spas, taught us that lining up more products across, versus just deep, gives the illusion of abundance. It’s a bigger investment, but it helps sell more.”
SCOTT J. AVEDA SALON New York, NY scottj.com Scott Buchannan SQUARE FEET: 2,800 TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 220 AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $75 RETAIL INVESTMENT: $50,000 BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda COLOR: Aveda TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce ASSOCIATIONS: Intercoiffure, PBA “Our product organization system within our software is laid out with the counter in mind. It’s all entered by where it lives on the shelf in the salon. You don’t have to know the category, just where it sits on the shelf. So anyone can count product.”
SIN 7 SALON White Rock, BC sin7salon.com Courtney Clark and Katherine Ross SQUARE FEET: 1,200 TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 13 AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $48 RETAIL INVESTMENT: $40,000 BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda COLOR: Aveda TECH SUPPORT: Milano, Hootsuite, Survey Monkey, Mailchimp “Products that aren’t hot sellers still need to move, so we encourage guests to sample products before buying if it’s something new to them. We’ve also enjoyed good success rates with in-salon Try Me feature displays.”
STUDIO 700 SALON & SPA Corona, CA studio700corona.com Tamra Segert SQUARE FEET: 1,800 TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 12 AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $55 RETAIL INVESTMENT: $8,000 BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Eufora COLOR: Eufora TECH SUPPORT: Insight, Constant Contact ASSOCIATION: PBA “It’s really important to change merchandising displays once a month. We have clients booking every four-six weeks, and I want them to see and experience new visuals each time they visit our salon.”
Additional Honorees Bii Hair Salon, West Dundee, IL Blo, Raleigh, NC Canvas Salon and Skin Bar, Powell, OH Ginger Bay Salon & Spa, St. Louis, MO Habitude Salons and Spa, Seattle, WA Interlocks Salon + Spa, Newburyport, MA Jon Alan Salon, Nashville, TN Josephine’s Day Spa & Salon, Houston, TX Michael Helene Salon Gallery, Dulles, VA Maggie the Salon, Pembroke Pines, FL Maxime Salon, Hingham, MA Neroli Salon & Spa, Milwaukee, WI Nuovo Salon Group, Sarasota, FL Nurture the Salon, Columbus, OH Roots Salon, Greendale, WI Salon Soca, Chicago, IL Schardein’s, Oklahoma City, OK Serenity Couture Salon Spa, West Des Moines, IA Solaris, Evansville, IN Spa Bleu, West Dundee & South Barrington, IL Spa Mizan, Lafayette, LA Voga Salon, Inc., Overland Park, KS Zanya Spa Salon, Lambertville, NJ
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