Visit to drybar in DC

That is NOT my car in the reflection.

Having never been to drybar, I was thrilled by what I saw when walking in, a clean and fresh looking salon.  There were about 5 women getting their hair blown out, and maybe 8 chairs.  The music was something of a modern mix up of 50’s music, if that makes sense.  I could almost picture the stylists busting a move and turning the venue into a Broadway show with synchronized drying and singing.  Upon entering, I immediately started snapping pictures until I was greeted by the front desk clerk.  I told her I was a Georgetown student doing a class project and was hoping I could interview someone in the store.  She asked if I would like to talk to the manager on duty and I naturally agreed that would be best.







While I waited for the manager to come out from her office, I witnessed several servers bringing glasses of crisp white wine to their customers.  I almost asked if they had room for a walk-in; the wine looked that good.  When the manager appeared, I greeted her, Danielle with the same story; however, she wasn't buying it.  I promised her the interview wouldn't be published anywhere except with our professor but she finally said that she isn't allowed to answer questions.  She did offer to give me the corporate manager’s email and assured me that the corporate representative would respond to me very quickly.  While she was writing down the email on a business card, I casually asked her some questions, as if I was interested as a customer.

What did I learn from the manager who wouldn't be interviewed?  Well, in her ‘professional’ opinion, drybar does not do nails because of the smell.  Also, they have a nail salon next door.  They have excellent hours and then best time to get an appointment is during the week because the weekends are busy.  They are open late, until 10pm almost every night except Friday and Saturday.  All of their stylists are licensed and have jobs cutting/coloring hair when they are not working at drybar. 

Even though Danielle wouldn't let me formally interview her, the visit was definitely valuable.  I still plan to email the corporate representative.