Blow dry salons

[lacyla123]

Hi all

I'm after some advice from you all... and a bit of market research at the same time.

I'm currently looking to setup a blow dry bar in my city. Currently there are none, whilst some hairdressers offer a one-off blow dry, most are fairly pricey and are appointment only.

Questions I want to ask you guys are:

1. Do you have any experience of having used or offered these services in the UK?

2. Would this be a service you would use for the just one-off occasions and events or would a professional person use this service regularly for meetings etc? (should the pricing be reasonable)

3. Would you prefer a central location that maybe doesn't have sufficient parking? Or prefer to drive to a suburban location that has ample parking and has easy access?

Any other advice or feedback would also be greatly appreciated!

Thanks all x

 

[daydreams01]

I think it's a good idea for a busy location but you need to be somewhere where u get walk in trade as blowdrys are often a spontaneous thing so if you have an eye catching shop front with your blow dry menu displayed people may pop in that didn't even want one 10 mins before! We do a lot of blowdrys but not enough to pay the bills solely on that alone so you need to make sure there is enough demand. Also it's quite hard on your arms, I have recently developed tennis elbow and it's so painful. I couldn't think of anything worse then just blowdrying all day long, it would be too uncomfortable for me!

 

[Trashqueen]

Yeah, you would definitely need to be in a busy area, with plenty of social events on during the week, to keep yourself busy on typically quieter days. Have you checked out DryBar? I've been to one in CA and gosh, they are super super busy. They work till 10/11 pm in some areas, and start at 7am.

 

[Hayleyhair]

I live in Essex everyone has their their hair blow dryer but... The blow drying salons have ended up also doing colour cuts extensions after a while... I don't think just offering a £20-£25 blowdry was enough to stay open.
I may be wrong but you prob need the other services too. In London you could get away with charging £30-£40 a blowdry so maybe that would work. That's just my thoughts in though hope it helps xx

 

[lacyla123]

I live in Essex everyone has their their hair blow dryer but... The blow drying salons have ended up also doing colour cuts extensions after a while... I don't think just offering a £20-£25 blowdry was enough to stay open.
I may be wrong but you prob need the other services too. In London you could get away with charging £30-£40 a blowdry so maybe that would work. That's just my thoughts in though hope it helps xx

That is a really good point. I was thinking of offering threading and make up as a side line, but not necessarily getting into cutting and colouring etc.

Thanks everyone for your replies so far - they are really really helpful.

 

[Jasmine_m]

I think its a great idea and yes if your in a busy area would be very profitable for you as you'd get a lot of walk ins, I do agree that you should offer some sort of other service, not cutting or colouring but maybe make-up, extensions, spray tans even? but people would always want a quick blow-dry before a night out etc or even start coming in regularly for their weekly blow-dry! I'd definitely go to one if there was one near me! somewhere central would be ideal for you but as a client I know I would like somewhere with parking but if it was something I really wanted to get done I'd happily park somewhere and walk to the salon, or get someone to give me a lift! lol

 

[lacyla123]

I think its a great idea and yes if your in a busy area would be very profitable for you as you'd get a lot of walk ins, I do agree that you should offer some sort of other service, not cutting or colouring but maybe make-up, extensions, spray tans even? but people would always want a quick blow-dry before a night out etc or even start coming in regularly for their weekly blow-dry! I'd definitely go to one if there was one near me! somewhere central would be ideal for you but as a client I know I would like somewhere with parking but if it was something I really wanted to get done I'd happily park somewhere and walk to the salon, or get someone to give me a lift! lol

Brilliant - thank you!

 

[lacyla123]

Yeah, you would definitely need to be in a busy area, with plenty of social events on during the week, to keep yourself busy on typically quieter days. Have you checked out DryBar? I've been to one in CA and gosh, they are super super busy. They work till 10/11 pm in some areas, and start at 7am.

Brill thanks! For you as a customer, would you class a busy area as central or anywhere that has passing traffic and high footfall? Thanks again.

 

[lacyla123]

I think it's a good idea for a busy location but you need to be somewhere where u get walk in trade as blowdrys are often a spontaneous thing so if you have an eye catching shop front with your blow dry menu displayed people may pop in that didn't even want one 10 mins before! We do a lot of blowdrys but not enough to pay the bills solely on that alone so you need to make sure there is enough demand. Also it's quite hard on your arms, I have recently developed tennis elbow and it's so painful. I couldn't think of anything worse then just blowdrying all day long, it would be too uncomfortable for me!

Yes really good point! I definitely won't be doing it all myself thanks for the feedback

 

[nickysnails200]

Hey
I think it's a great idea it would have to be in a busy area for walk ins. Advertise well! As people have said it might not be financially viable to only over blowdrys so maybe think of more express quick treatments for example gel polish, express lashes even make up all things for nights outs or things people may want quickly and you can have that as your up selling point for people who leave things to the last minute, are in a rush etc. Good luck I hope it all goes well xx

 

[JayM]

I'm thinking of something similar. Blow drys and express treatments. E.g. Gel nails and tans. X

 

[jamiereid92]

I don't understand how blow dry bars work or survive. At the end of the day it's a hair salon that doesn't cut or colour.

I don't know how you are going to make more money by charging less for a.blow dry.

Clients do go to salons to have regular blow drys, and I think most clients that have their proffered stylist, would rather go to their stylist than a new blow.dry bar if they wanted their hair done.

 

[Lukas K]

I love the idea of blow dry bars. There is quite a few successful blow dry chains in my city and they do quite well. It appears most people love their hairstylists for cuts and colors, but choose to go to a blow dry sometimes for special occasion styles, as that is what they specialize in and there are hairstylists out there that aren't confident in their finishing ability, especially upstyles and more intricate hairstyles. I have to admit that the thought of doing blowdrys all day makes me cringe It's one of those things that's really hard on our bodies and kudos to those that can manage to round brush blowdry all day!