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by Stacey Soble
2017 Salon Today 200: Planned Profitability
Meet the 2017 Salon Today 200 honorees in the field of Planned Profitability. By predicting and planning fo profit and keeping a vigilant watch over expenses, these owners are building sustainable salons and spas that stand strong without relying on their income as service providers.
December 6, 2016
Ginny Eramo, the owner of Interlocks Salon+Spa in Newburyport, MA.
5 min to read
By predicting and planning for profit and keeping a vigilant watch over expenses, these owners are building sustainable salons that stand strong without relying on their income as service providers.
CELEBRITY SPA & SALON
College Station, TX
celebrityspa.net
Leah Atkinson Lucas, Laura Atkinson-Wagner and Cindy Atkinson
SQUARE FEET: 4,200
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 39
2015 PROFITABILITY: 8.5%
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $49
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Redken, Pureology, Brazilian Blowout
COLOR: Redken, Joico, Pravana
SKIN CARE: PCA Skin, Dermalogica
NAIL CARE: Spa Ritual, Orly, CND
TECH SUPPORT: Envision, Demandforce, Stylenet
“To track and measure profitability goals, our support staff tracks progress daily, weekly and monthly. We stress planning rather than tracking so we can find ways to help grow the business and reach goals.”
CENTRE SALON & SPA, ARVADA
Arvada, CO
centresalon.com
James F. Pacifico
SQUARE FEET: 3,600
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 27
2015 PROFITABILITY: 12.3%
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $37
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR: Aveda
SKIN CARE: Aveda
NAIL CARE: Jessica, OPI
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, DemandForce, ZeeZor, WebOpenings
“We discuss weekly numbers through regular communication that we call a connect call or connect email. We keep the managers engaged with the expense budgets by tying their bonus program to meeting the plan with key expenses such as guest service payroll, technical payroll and back bar.”
Carleen Buden and Stan Bialecki, owners of Chameleon Haircolor Cafe and Spa in North Haven, CT.
CHAMELEON HAIRCOLOR CAFÉ & SPA
North Haven, CT
chameleonhcc.com
Carleen Buden and Stan Bialecki
SQUARE FEET: 2,500
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 15
2015 PROFITABILITY: 8.14%
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $55
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Bumble and Bumble, Oribe, Brazilian Blowout
COLOR: Goldwell
SKIN CARE: Glo Minerals
NAIL CARE: OPI
TECH SUPPORT: Demandforce, Constant Contact, Basecamp
“Chameleon monitors our cash-flow plan daily, and when our sales do not meet our plan, we must make tough decisions. Our first strategy is to boost sales with specials and social-media marketing. This often solves the problem.”
GINGER BAY SALON & SPA
Kirkwood, MO
gingerbay.com
Laura A. Ortmann and
Jeffrey N. Evenson
SQUARE FEET: 10,000; 2,800
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 105
2015 PROFITABILITY: 5%
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $49
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR: Aveda
SKIN CARE: Aveda, Murad
NAIL CARE: CND, OPI
TECH SUPPORT: Millennium, Demandforce, ZeeZor, WebOpenings, Spa Boom
ASSOCIATION: PBA
“We conduct one-on-one meetings in August and September with all technical service providers. The objective is to share current and past performance such as productivity, retention, service and retail revenue and ask each team member to forecast his/her service and retail revenues for the upcoming year.”
INTERLOCKS SALON + SPA
Newburyport, MA
interlockssalon.com
Ginny Eramo
SQUARE FEET: 6,400
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 48
2015 PROFITABILITY: 4%
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $69
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Oribe, Shu Uemura, Thermafuse
COLOR: Wella
SKIN CARE: Decleor, PCA
NAIL CARE: CND, Butter London, RGB
TECH SUPPORT: STX
ASSOCIATION: PBA
“Due to major renovations, we expected sales for 2015 to be flat. However, when we reopened our renovated salon in May, client activity was robust and it continued all year. By the end of 2015, we showed a gain in sales of 4% over 2014!”
LUX SALON
Fullerton, CA
luxsalon.com
James Cook and Wade Zylstra
SQUARE FEET: 3,000
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 36
2015 PROFITABILITY: 12%
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $65
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR: Aveda
SKIN CARE: Aveda
NAIL CARE: Spa Ritual
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce
ASSOCIATION: PBA
“At one of our retreats, we brought in a psychologist who talked about the power of asking for a sale. He gave our staff the awareness that everyone sells everything all the time, and that knowledge made them more confident.”
OMAGI SALON SPA
Louisville, KY
omagisalonspa.com
Marian Maruca Sang
SQUARE FEET: 2,500
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 31
2015 PROFITABILITY: 16%
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $48
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR: Aveda
SKIN CARE: Aveda
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, ZeeZor
ASSOCIATIONS: NCA, PBA
“We have a box where employees can make suggestions of ways we can cut costs and become more efficient. If we wind up implementing one of their ideas for cost-cutting and efficiency, the employee could be rewarded up to $1,000 depending on the amount of money their idea saved us.”
RITUALS SALON-SPA
Midlothian, VA
ritualssalon.net
Sheri and Pete Polignone
SQUARE FEET: 5,500
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 43
2015 PROFITABILITY: 9%
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $60
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Eufora, Kevin Murphy, Unite
COLOR: Schwarzkopf Professional
SKIN CARE: PCA, Eminence
NAIL CARE: OPI
TECH SUPPORT: Millennium, Demandforce
ASSOCIATIONS: The Day Spa Association, PBA
“Understanding financial systems and reviewing them bi-monthly helps us stick to our plan. We know at any time how healthy we are as a company, how well we are performing month to month, and how much cash we have to fuel the engine.”
SALON ALLURE
Huntsville, AL
salonallurehuntsville.com
Paula Lecher and
Michelle McGough
SQUARE FEET: 2,600
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 26
2015 PROFITABILITY: 11%
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $41
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Redken, Pureology
COLOR: Redken
SKIN CARE: Dr. Grandel
NAIL CARE: OPI
TECH SUPPORT: Envision, Demandforce, Constant Contact
ASSOCIATION: PBA
“In addition to technical training, in order to further ensure long-term growth, we are training several team members to become future shareholders in Salon Allure. When more team members are invested in the company’s profitability, profit grows.”
SOLARIS AVEDA
Evansville, IN
solarisaveda.com
Amy Carter
SQUARE FEET: 2,400
TOTAL EMPLOYEES: 16
2015 PROFITABILITY: 15%
AVERAGE CUT & STYLE: $40
BEST-SELLING RETAIL: Aveda
COLOR: Aveda
SKIN CARE: Aveda
NAIL CARE: Essie
TECH SUPPORT: SalonBiz, Demandforce
ASSOCIATION: PBA
“I’ve created a projection sheet showing what we did in each segment of service and product sales the previous year and calculate the numbers we need to hit to have a 10% profit growth in the coming year. By sticking to the facts, I can make logical, factually accurate decisions and keep emotion from running the business.”
Additional Honorees
Aidan James, Nashua, NH
Blo, Raleigh, NC
Cobalt Blue Salon, Austin, TX
Cutting Loose Salons, University Park, FL
The Fixx Hair Stuido, New Braunfels, TX
Nuovo Salon Group, Sarasota, FL
RedBloom Salon, Calgary, Alberta
Salon Disegno, Lawrenceville, GA
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