If you’ve had to pay more to get your hair done recently or noticed fewer stylists at your local salon, you’re not alone.
Hair salons continue to be impacted by the pandemic as supply shortages, price increases, staffing issues and changes in client patterns become new barriers.
Although there are currently no COVID-19 restrictions, supply shortages spurred by the pandemic are preventing salons from fully rebounding from the shutdowns.
“We try to keep a good stock but we’ve reached out, having to go far and wide. When they are in stock, we double up,” said Maureen Freebery, owner of Maureen’s Salon and Day Spa in Pike Creek. “We are a Redken Elite wax salon and it’s been a challenge to keep everything in stock.”
Freebery, 76, was a hairstylist for 45 years and has owned her salon on Limestone Road for almost 55 years.
Freebery has had to work with several suppliers, and her staff has even resorted to creating the dyes they are unable to find elsewhere.
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In Stanton, The Alchemy of Hair, a salon on Ogletown Stanton Road, has had to bulk buy supplies to stay stocked.
“We always hear rumors from distributors that they won’t be able to get things in. We have padded ourselves with a three-months supply of dyes. Which is a huge investment,” said Katarina Stromhaier, 27, who has owned the salon with three others for almost five years. “In the beginning when we reopened, disinfectants were hard to come by.”
The salon carries Italian haircare line, Davines, and specializes in dye services. If supply-chain issues cause them to be without the necessary products, they would be forced to shut down, said Stromhaier.
Aside from a lack of inventory, the little that is readily available has increased in cost, making it difficult for some businesses to afford to stock up.
Maureen’s Salon and Day Spa had to increase their haircut services by two dollars to keep up with fluctuating prices of inventory and to keep their business profitable.
“We’re just trying to keep it stable. It’s going well. I don’t want to give anybody a reason to say they can’t afford us when things are going up, too,” she said. “It was a minimal increase of what we could do.”
In the new year, The Alchemy of Hair had to increase their prices by six to 10 percent, something they have not done in two and a half years.
The salon did not want to hurt clients by raising prices, but it was necessary to ensure they were breaking even on services. Even with the recent adjustment, the cost of inventory continues to climb, said Stromhaier.
Similar to the others, Paul Mitchell The School in Bear has had to raise prices because of delays in the products they use to stock their salon, including those from their own company and mannequin heads used for practice by the students, said co-owner and dean, Trina Carter.
Staffing still a challenge for salons
On top of financial hardships putting a strain on salons, staffing shortages contribute to the difficulty the industry is facing.
While Freebery’s salon remained relatively stable during the pandemic, she found it difficult to keep her staff together, a big concern considering the members of her team have been with the business for a long time.
“Personally, it was a big hit for the company but I did everything to keep them as whole as I could,” said Freebery. “If I find the right person, I go to the wall to keep them.”
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When businesses were closed at the beginning of the pandemic, many were forced to shorten hours or cut members of their teams to curb the amount of lost revenue.
“I am very thankful to say that business as of today has been good. We are back, and maybe even a little stronger. If anyone asks me about the last two years, I say unbelievable. A very stressful time at best. It’s been evaluating everything,” said Freebery.
Now, she has noticed less interest in cosmetologist positions at her business, wondering if it is due to most salons being commission-based and more people needing secure jobs where there is an “umbrella or arm surrounding them.”
Stromhaier’s staff consists of eight stylists and six assistants, several of whom are facing difficulties in moving into the stylist position due to a delay in certified testing being offered by the state testing agency.
Without a full license, individuals pursuing a career in cosmetology can only get temporary licenses or work as assistants who help with shampooing and cleaning services.
At Paul Mitchell, Carter says their class sizes have stayed consistent throughout the pandemic, but she knows of many local salons having a tough time hiring people.
Students at Paul Mitchell can enroll in a cosmetology program where they divide their time between learning in a classroom and gaining hands-on experience in the school’s hair clinic.
After an initial shutdown at the beginning of the pandemic, their hair services have seen a decrease in demand.
“It’s slowly rebuilding. I think with all of the protocols and different things like that, people being afraid, our clinician services have declined,” said Carter.
New post-pandemic customer patterns
With working from home becoming more common, salons have noticed a shift in the habits of their clients.
Maureen’s Salon and Day Spa now finds its busiest times occurring on weekdays when pre-pandemic hot spots were on weekends.
For the first 18 months of the pandemic, clients at The Alchemy of Hair began booking appointments in the middle of the day, many of them arriving with laptops in tow to work from the styling chair.
On the flip side, the ease of appointment scheduling while working from home has led to clients cancelling last-minute or no-showing for appointments.
“They didn’t see the hustle and bustle of getting to appointments as important anymore,” said Stromhaier.“At the end of the day, it really hurts the stylist.”
Many salons are implementing cancellation policies or charging for no-show appointments due to how frequently it occurs. If an appointment is not canceled in advance, a stylist may be left with a schedule opening that can’t be filled in time, said Stromhaier.
Despite these hardships, loyal clients who have stuck with their stylists through every curveball thrown by the pandemic have proven to be the backbone of the industry.
“If I said anything, I said this will not bring me down […] I think we are now seen as vital because they didn’t have us for three months,“ said Freebery. “I think they really appreciate the talent they bring and it makes them feel good.”
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