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SEARCHFollowing the service-on-demand trend, a California salon launches a successful braid bar.
ON A STUNNING LACQUERED white bar located in the middle of Nine Zero One Salon you will find beautiful jeweled containers filled with multi-colored bobby pins and small rubber bands sitting on top of a glass countertop where clients can choose from a menu that offers up to eight choices of signature braids.
Underneath the glass countertop, previous clients who have visited the Braid Bar at this premier salon in West Hollywood, California, have left behind copies of black and white photos, which were taken in the salon’s photo booth. In the drawers you will find brushes, combs, dryers and curling irons, there is even an antique hand mirror on display so clients can view their final result. “The Braid Bar is the newest trend in hair styling,” says Nikki Lee and Riawna Capri, co-owners of Nine Zero One Salon and founders of the Braid Bar. “It started just as fun and we started doing braids on each other. Anytime one of us had to braid a client we always thought it was so cute and we wanted one. Soon after the Braid Bar evolved!”
The salon offers eight signature braids but they also do custom braid requests. We offer any braid you can think of.” say the co-owners. “We even started a new braid called the ‘waterfall’—it is stunning!”
The salon charges $25 for braid only and $40 for a shampoo and braid. All the stylists at Nine Zeno One participate in the Braid Bar; and every quarter the salon offers courses to teach new braids and techniques to then employees. “We consider the Braid Bar both an add-on service and a separate service, but a lot of people do just come in for the braids,” say the co-owners. “It’s a great way to introduce new clients to the salon.”
Nine Zero One’s Braid Bar has been so successful (averaging about 20 braids per week), they have featured the bar at salon-sponsored events and they have been featured on the news and in magazines like Glamour, Allure, and Daily Candy. They have also created their own website, thebraidbar.com. The website includes photos of all their signature braids, press announcements and information on how you can get “Braid Bar” certified.
“Our Braid Bar has been a huge hit,” say the co-owners. “We never thought something so simple and fun could come out so big! We are actually starting to branch out and invite salons to come and get certified so they can offer Braid Bar at their own locations.”
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