Hair salons: A Booming Businesssubmitted on 21 March 2016
According to the latest statistics, the hair salon industry is positively blooming. With western people becoming more fashion conscious, the sharp rise in hair salons and beauty therapists is a direct reflection of this. Walking around central London, it seems like every other shop is either a hair salon, a Spa, or something related to the beauty business.
The digital age of media beauty
The reasons for this are that people are becoming more conscious of their image, with selfies, and the social media enabling us to post our image online instantly, for the world to see. The media has done its bit to ensure that we all want to look good, and be noticed in the crowd. Women’s lib is undoubtedly behind this massive shift to female exhibitionism, and while there are a few men unhappy about this change, the rest of us simply love it!
The beauty trade has a facelift
According to some pretty conclusive UK salon statistics, more than 50% of all hair salon workers are self-employed. The number of hair salons that have sprung up since 2010 has shot up by 14%, with more than 150,000 people employed to straighten, perm or blow dry our hair! The culture of hairdressing has changed over the decades, with mush less appointment based business, with many trendy places in London offering a blow dry with coffee and toast. The ladies want that shot of confidence before that 8am meeting or that special dinner, and there are many upmarket salons, ready to give you that perfect look before you enter that highly competitive arena we call society.
The race to look good
It has been said that the market driven hair business is merely catering for the increasing demand for women to be stunning on tap. “Who cares about this afternoon, just get me looking good for the breakfast meeting” is a frequent comment. As society changes, women are becoming more dominant in the boardroom and therefore require the perfect look for the important event. The average Knightsbridge salon will show a client a dozen images, and when the client picks one, ooh la la!, she walks out twenty minutes later looking just like the girl in the picture.
Times are changing
One could say the days of the shy, stay at home housewife, are well and truly over. Just walk around central London on a weekday morning and you can see just how many professional women are out and about, confidently going about their daily routines, all with beautiful heads of well managed hair.
Another sign that things are changing is the salon opening hours. No more 9 – 5 opening, with many salons opening their doors at 6am and working away until 10pm.
The new trend is here to stay
With more and more young people choosing to enter the beauty business, it seems the trade is set to keep growing, supplying a new generation of confident, attractive women who know what they want, and also exactly where to get it.
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