KAI WAN, OF P.KAI HAIR EXPLAINS WHAT CHANGED BETWEEN SALONS TWO AND THREE
JAMIE STEVENS IS ONE OF THOSE NAMES WHO NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION. HE SAYS, GOING FROM ONE TO TWO SALONS IS MUCH HARDER THAN GOING FROM TWO, TO THREE There are so many things that you learn the first time, by the time you get past the first two you have a pretty good idea about what works for the brand and what doesn’t. It’s important to take into account that different areas of your city/ country have very different clientele, and will mean different team members, so although your ethos is the same across the salons, there will be a certain level of individuality that you must allow for. Opening up a second and third salon is a real journey and of course there will be hurdles and challenges, which you must address immediately if you want to stay on top of things.
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I’ve learnt that it’s most important to have a good structure in place from the very beginning – especially in regards to your ethos and staff. You need to be clear with everyone in your team, as they are a representation of your brand. I love the quote from Richard Branson: ‘Train people well enough so they can leave; treat them well enough so they don’t want to!’
MARK WOOLLEY, FOUNDER OF ELECTRIC HAIR GROUP, NOW HAS SIX SALONS BEARING HIS NAME HOW LONG DID YOU HAVE YOUR FIRST SALON BEFORE OPENING THE SECOND? I opened the first Electric salon in 2007, and another one in Reading almost straight away. One year later, I opened in Oxford, then a year after that, we opened in Liverpool. Then, in 2013, we opened in /38
When looking to open a second or third salon, the first thing I thought about was location. Our first salon was doing really well; it was just on the outskirts of town, so we decided that it would be great to have a presence in the town centre, which led us to open up our second salon in a Victorian arcade. It became incredibly busy very quickly and as well as reaching new clients, served as the overflow for our first salon! The third salon opening was a natural progression for us; we’ve now taken the P.Kai brand just outside of Peterborough to Market Deeping, an affluent market village town. Location is key; our salons are close enough for us to feel like a salon group but just far away enough from each other for them to each make their mark on their individual areas. For me, going from two to three was much easier, as it was something we’d already done but it also felt like a good move for the whole team. When you have just two salons, there may be some team rivalry as you will have to split your time between them. With three teams, there’s still a competitive energy but it feels less intense.
Edinburgh. I waited for 18 months before opening in central London. WHAT WAS YOUR REASON FOR OPENING A NEW SALON? The plan for Electric was never to have lots of salons or to be seen a ‘salon group' - we like to focus on quality and individualism and also spread the word of Electric’s concept and products to other like-minded salons and stylists. WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU’VE FACED AS YOU’VE GROWN? There’s always a big challenge in having more than one salon, as you need to
increase the structure behind it too. We have worked hard to invest in a strong in-house team; Accountanting, Marketing and Operations are all in-house and that’s what helps. Each one of my salons also has a home-grown Art Director (in charge of quality and education, like a head chef) and also a home-grown manager that takes care of the day-to-day running of the salon. ARE THERE MORE SALONS TO COME? I’m happy with what Electric has achieved but we’re always looking to grow and become bigger and better without losing authenticity. It’s not on the cards at the moment but I’ll never say never.