Jen is 32, a friend of my wife, and was in town to visit for
the weekend. She grew up in Huntington
Beach, California. She went to Chatman
University in Los Angeles, studying education and got a teaching
certificate. She then went on to Union
University in Pennsylvania to study English.
She currently lives in North Carolina and works at Appalachian State
University. She gets her hair done every six months and
never gets her hair done. Jen was in our
wedding and that was the last time she got dressed up and got her hair done
up. Previous times she got all done up
were the US Marine Corps Ball in 2001 or 2001 and then before that she went to the
prom.
When she has gotten her hair done up it has been done fairly
well. She’ll go get her hair done up
when someone else goes her. The favorite
thing she likes is the scalp massage.
She doesn’t like people touching her eyes and so doesn’t like other
people putting makeup on her face. At
senior prom her eyes were overdone and she wiped it off. She doesn’t like feeling like she has paint
on her face. Jen does get facials and
waxes done. She spends $130/month for
these combined. In LA this would cost
$220/month. Where she lives there are
only three ladies in town who do these things and called it slim pickings.
She does not this we should combine dry bar and nails
together as nails are done everywhere.
Jen said she has very fine hair and so does not get her hair blow
dried. She also thinks that doing nails
is a transitionary job. With nail fungus
in the news a couple of years ago, she’ll go somewhere where it’s more
sanitary. She also sees a strong
relationship between higher price and higher perceived quality.
Using her mom in LA as a reference concerning price point,
her mom pays $53 dollar for a manipedi, including fake nails painted. She believes this is a discount as she’s a
long time customer and her mom’s friend pays $63 for the same service.
Jen says she pays $100 for hair coloring.
Pete’s interview with
Jen – 21 July, 2013, time 2 pm in Bethesda, MD.
Pete asked Jen for an interview and she replied yes, but she
only has nine minutes. Turns out she
just got her nails done and was standing outside a nail place. She is from Baltimore and went to Cornell for
her undergraduate degree.
For Jen’s best wedding experience – the logistics of the
event, including the preparations, were very well communicated. The bride’s planning ability / level is a
critical factor in what happens. She
didn’t have a strong worst wedding experience that stood out but said that she
was in a wedding were the logistics were not a well worked out.
She gets her nails done every week and gets her hair
highlighted and cut every 10 weeks. Convenience
is important for Jen. She gets her nails
done for $15 and pedicure for $25.
Convenience and quality are important.
She gets her hair done for $80 and color for $150. This is want she is comfortable paying. She does NOT think hair and nails work
together. She would not even try a salon’s
nails. She says, “Do what you do best
and ONLY do that.” Her schedule includes
doing nails at lunch. Hair takes two
hours for color and 1.5 hours for a cut.
She gets dressed up for a function about once every two months, such as
going out for a fundraiser. She feels
spas are a big competitor. For Elizabeth
Arden, it’s about doing it together (the social part) and does not care about
nails then.
Pete’s interview with
Janet – 21 July, time 2:30 pm in Bethesda, MD
Janet is a hair stylist at Bubbles. She was sitting outside the store on a
bench. She grew up in northwest Washington,
DC. She went to Beauty School in 2002
and is currently working on a certification to color hair (April to October
program). The certification will bring
her an instant raise. She thinks it’s a good
course, although it hasn’t been updated since 1987. Her whole family has been doing this (not
professionally) since she was aware of it as a little kid. She learned to do hair and became the family’s
go to person for hair. She’s a
manicurist as well and went to school to learn to do so. Getting a manicure is a luxury, including
having the time available. She has
worked at Bubbles for the last three years and two months.
She thinks what makes Dry Bar great (the one in Bethesda) is
the location. Dry Bar, Bubbles, the nail
place around the corner, and Aveda share customers. They send overflow customers to each other,
as well as services that they don’t do but one of the other places does. It is not an adversarial relationship but
instead has been a good one since Dry Bar opened. This setup brings more clients into the area
and benefits everyone. Bubbles does not
do nails but there is a nail store around the corner.
Regarding the business aspects of Bubbles and the hair salon
industry – over the last 10 years the focus has been on being economical. Some shops are all about high volume and the
quality is lower, nails and skill are compromised. Fungal infections and strong chemicals, which
are cheaper, are used. Removing
artificial nails involves acetone.
Making things more green – making it healthier is something Janet would
like to be able to do. She is not sure
how much the chemicals involved in her business affect the environment. Hair removal is $15.
Time – Having it in one place is a good idea. People are very loyal to their hair
people. She doesn’t think a business has
to specialize such as just hair or just nails.
More important is the focus on the client and running it efficiently for
them. For the business aspects of it –
the corporate part, the Radner family owns Bubbles (a chain) and also owns the Hair
Cutter. The employees are exposed to
lots of computer data. There a lots of
goals set for bringing Clients, how many customers and the retail part such as
selling while cutting. Regarding
products she says the focus is on educating the client. Millions of products are out there. Stylists here do it all at the store – they clean
up there area, wash the hair of their clients, style hair.
(Pete tells about our idea)
She says she’s interesting in an inclusive, all kinds of people
place. With a wide variety of services
such as hair, blow dry or no blow dry.
She says Bubbles model is providing affordability and versatility, with
something for everyone, wealthy or cost-conscious. It is more about the client
relationship. It is a clean environment;
there are the amenities all available. She
says what needs to improve are the tools.
It is challenging to find new and better blow dryers, new and better
shears. She is searching for
improvements. Where’s the improvement in
Salon Chairs.
For reputation, people go online and check businesses and people
out. People have come to her based on
good reviews. It is very powerful.
Pete’s Interview with
Amy – 21 July, time 8:30 pm.
Amy is from Haggerstown.
She went to Sheppard University in West Virginia. She previously lived in Germantown and then
Frederick before coming to live in Alexandria.
Amy gets her hair done in different styles and gets a cut,
color, and style. She doesn’t pay people
to get her fingernails done but does get her toenails done three times a year
in the summertime. The quality is very
inconsistent. She does not have any
horror stories. Once her haircut was
colored too dark and cut too short (in 2012).
She wanted milk chocolate color and got dark chocolate. Steve (her significant other) did not leave
her over it though.
The last time she got dressed up was while on a cruise in
June, 2012. She always does her own
makeup. She does not get her hair blow
dried as it does not look good when she does that. She thinks a big enough place would be good
for doing both hair and nails. Most nail
places are NOT very relaxing. Amy wants convenience
and atmosphere. Atmosphere and relaxing
depend on what’s going on in her life.
Depending on her schedule she has to be fast or with more time wants
relaxation. Alcohol is a big factor.
Amy does not want to be sold products. Don’t try to constantly sell me other
services or products. Especially for
facials. Hair products cost more at hair
salons and she doesn’t want it pushed on her.
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