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.
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.”
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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.”
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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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