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Are Traditional Hair Salons A Thing Of The Past?

By February 16, 2022Blog
Old days booth renting in a hair salon was a dead end game.

Traditional hair salons ruled the beauty industry for decades.  Quite frankly, they were a hot, hot item in the 30’s, the 40’s, the 50’s, all the way into the beginning of the 21st Century.  They were a business niche which was almost a guaranteed money-maker for the owners.

But, if there is one thing we know with certainty about the business world, guaranteed money-makers come and go, and eventually a changing society, with changing needs and desires, will force a change.  And so it is with hair salons. They are currently in the midst of a revolution; a quiet revolution, for sure, one without firearms or bombs blasting in the night, a much-quieter revolution which is changing how we look at beauty salons in 2022 and beyond.

We are looking at the hair salon suites for rent revolution, and in the Fort Worth area, Salon & Spa Galleria leads the way. Call us at 972-691-7300 for more information about how you can join the revolution.

Let’s take a closer look at the hair salons revolution.

The hair salons, or beauty shops, of the past featured a retail shop, owned by one person, with several chairs, or stations, from which “employees” styled or cut hair for patrons.  The employees, really independent contractors, would supply the talent and skill, and for their efforts they generally received a commission based on “sales,” a commission in the 40% range. The owner of the salon would then keep 60% of the income to cover expenses and to fatten their savings accounts.

That working arrangement is how the industry worked for decades.  The only other option beauticians, hair specialists, nail specialists, etc., had was to operate a one-person business out of their kitchen, usually skirting the law with cash-only businesses.  It was the only way they could pocket 100% of the profits; most of them certainly could not afford retail space for lease in most cities, nor could they afford furniture, utilities, laundry facilities, insurance, et al.

The salon suite rental revolution

Truth be told, we are not exactly sure when the change happened.  To our recollection, the salon suite rental movement began popping up in earnest about ten years ago.  Today they are in most major cities, and they are gaining momentum, so much so that we firmly believe the hair salons of the past as soon going to be THE past in most cities.

How does it work?  Talented beauticians rent a salon booth, a salon chair, or a salon suite from a rental agency.  They then run their own independent, one-person beauty salon from that rental space.  They pay a weekly rental fee ($75 per week at Salon & Spa Galleria), and in many cases, as it is with our seventeen Salon & Spa Galleria locations, the utilities are included in that weekly rental fee, as is WiFi, cable, furniture if needed, and many other amenities, making this method very, very affordable for practically anyone with an ounce of talent.

Need more proof that this revolution is alive and well? Look no further than Salon & Spa Galleria in Fort Worth.  We expanded from ten locations to seventeen, during the pandemic, at a time when many businesses were hanging “closed” signs on their doors.

Call us today if you have talent and you live in Tarrant County, Texas.

Viva La Revolution!