MENU
SEARCHJust when revenue should have been building toward a peak, the esthetics salon was experiencing a sharp decline.
Sometimes a dip in business seems to come out of nowhere. But when you get yourself thinking like the client, you often can solve the mystery.
At Glow Beauty Boutique in Braintree, Massachusetts, October was the month in recent years that signaled an end to the bustling business of the previous six months. It was somewhat to be expected, because early spring through September produced added income from airbrush tanning.
“Here up north, everybody loves the look of being tan in the summertime, but no one wants the sun damage,” North says. “People want to look good for prom, graduation, weddings, and bachelorette and other parties.”
But where were all the year-round clients? By wintertime, more than one esthetician noticed the loss of regulars in a pattern that was beginning to repeat annually.
Owner Shelley North figured out that the timing was no coincidence. While airbrush tanning services provided appreciated additional revenue, many of those clients booked only that service. Coming in as frequently as every week, they’d fill time slots the estheticians otherwise would have had available for their year-round facial, waxing, and general skincare clients. By fall, when the tanning stopped as clients covered pale skin with pants and turtlenecks, the year-round guests had grown impatient and moved on.
“These clients are loyal and won’t see someone else in the salon, even though we always offer,” North explains. “They feel guilty for ‘cheating’ on their regular esthetician, so they go somewhere else. We were losing them—or, at best, we were losing them for a while.”
Not wanting to continue this tail-wagging-the-dog model, North thought about how Glow could return to focusing primarily on the esthetics clients.
“These were the people who were keeping us in business,” North says. “We value the airbrush clients, too, but we couldn’t lose the ‘whole’ in order to offer tanning services.”
Glow had enough room to accommodate tanning, just not enough technicians—unless North counted her entire 17-member team. In the state of Massachusetts, a spray tan technician needs only state certification, not a cosmetology license.
“Our airbrush tanning has its own space in the salon and its own capacity restrictions,” North reports. “Because of this, we were allowed to train our guest services staff and esthetics students to do the spray tanning, allowing our estheticians to focus on their year-round clients. This maintained our elevated cash flow during our busy season while protecting our main clientele.”
North arranged outside training for any support staff who were interested in extra summer income. Then they brought in models and practiced. As a final step along with getting the state certification, they would airbrush the estheticians to get them comfortable referring their year-round clients who also booked tanning services.
By taking all of those precautions, North says, “we did not compromise on the health and safety of clients, and we maintained high client retention rates.” In October 2022, revenue did not drop off a cliff—or at all.
The estheticians have communicated with their guests about the change, and most clients are fine with it, North reports. While they can still call and request their favorite esthetician to do the tanning, in online booking only the support staff appear as technicians for the service.
“Now our estheticians can stay in a dedicated room doing back-to-back services,” North says. “They don’t have to bounce back and forth from the airbrush room. We’ll definitely do this again for the 2023 season.”
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.
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.
Up to 40% of hair stylists ghost the salon interview stage, leaving owners trapped playing endless phone tag with uncommitted applicants. This data-driven report breaks down why traditional job boards create recruitment friction and reveals the modern messaging strategies high-growth salons use to get pre-qualified talent to actually show up. Learn how to transition from cold calling to high-conversion conversations that protect your time and fill your chairs.
Sponsored by Beautista
Spit fests, hostile threats, and even an overachieving matchmaker--SALON TODAY readers share their craziest client tales and how their team handled these tough situations with professionalism and grace.
Keeping your appointment book full when clients are in vacation mode takes more than a good Instagram post. It takes a plan. The 2026 Summer Marketing Calendar from Meevo gives salon, spa & med spa owners a month-by-month roadmap with sharp themes, key opportunity dates, and campaign ideas specifically designed for the beauty & wellness industry. Here’s to your summer season working as hard as you do!
Sponsored by Millennium Systems International
AI is transforming the beauty and wellness industry, and the future is about empowering people, not replacing them. Discover how Phorest AI helps salons, spas, and med spas across North America respond faster, personalize every visit, and keep human connection at the heart of the client experience.
Sponsored by Phorest
Owner Michaella Blissett-Williams credits her General Manager Gloria Hortua with [salon] 718's year-over-year, double-digit growth and says she's been able to scale the company to eight locations because she can rely on Hortua to manage daily operations.
Shine Time: Aluram’s High Shine Line Delivers Moisture and Shine with Clean Ingredients
Sponsored by Aluram
Elyse Rogers is an uplifting presence at The Headroom who makes the team feel heard even in stressful situations. Owner Danielle Cherewyk sings her praises in this installment of Meet the Manager.
Despite a slight and predictable decline in client traffic for Q1, resilient pricing power is driving year-over-year revenue growth in salons. The KIM Report's Alain Audet reviews the data and what it's telling us about the state of professional beauty.
Same-store revenue grew just 2% for the second straight year—and new guest visits declined across every segment of the industry. The 2026 Benchmark Report reveals where growth is actually happening, which verticals are pulling ahead, and what the data says about where your business stands right now.
Sponsored by Zenoti
Hair restoration is entering a new era driven by regenerative science. This paper explores how Exosome technology is transforming treatment outcomes by targeting hair loss at a cellular level. Discover why EXOGROW is leading this shift.
Sponsored by Dermapenworld
A salon brand is much more than a logo. In this thought-provoking blog, Leon Alexander, Ph.D., walks you through the difference. SALON TODAY suggests sharing this article with your team and leading a discussion at your next huddle, asking the team to define your business's brand.
