INCONFERENCE
Salon of the Year: Rockhampton
HOUSE OF HAIR AWARD WINNERS: MOST IMPROVED STORE OF THE YEAR Epping (Sarah Bakir) BODY PIERCING STORE OF THE YEAR Werribee (Gerhard Herzig & Duane Merchant) LOCAL AREA MARKETING OF THE YEAR Doncaster (Nic Nayef Group) MANAGER OF THE YEAR Louise Blundstone (Knox City) & Melissa Pascoe (Rockhampton) SALON OF THE YEAR Rockhampton (Dee & Lucas Bryant) FRANCHISEE OF THE YEAR (1-2 SITE) Sarah Bakir FRANCHISE OF THE YEAR (MULTI SITES) Nic Nayef HALL OF FAME Debbie & Peter Gallirhir
handwritten signs and heavily discounted retailing it is now more about elevating the brand experience in everything they do. This year also saw the re-launch of the brand’s own make product range and a stronger push towards education – driving the capabilities of each of the stylists in salons. “We know that video is one of the most engaging pieces of content we can have and for the first time ever we are introducing the House of Hair Colour Festival Competition for stylists,” said Training and Education Manager Jason Panda “We are also re-instating our brand promise – every client will receive a professional consultation, great customer experience and value,” Jason said. It’s this brand promise and transparency with
Franchise of the Year: Nic Nayef
clients that continue to develop strong relationships with both suppliers and customers. Customers now have access to a Style Society program that enhances the brand’s digital experience. In 2018 the group plans to double memberships and drive more customers to salons from the online brand experience. Rather than look to a brand or a celebrity status backed hair show this year the five Hairhouse Warehouse Artistic Team inductees worked on a high energy hair show – mentored by a man who need’s no introduction, Uros MIkic from Kinky Curly Straight. Testament to the Hairhouse Warehouse philosophy of keeping things fresh and fast-moving, Managing Director Emad Nayef was pretty straight up in saying he feels hair shows alone are boring, “Hair shows and cutting on stage for an hour is boring so I hired the best dancers in the country – they’re our hair models,” Emad said. “How amazing was that show? We’ve had some big names up here but we have proved that doing our own show and using our talented stylists is the best direction forward for us,” he said. Passion has become more of a priority than store growth for the group it seems, rather than just growing by numbers in the last few years we have seen the group grow as a team, grow in spirit and grow as one hair salon and retail family. “The passion and love for the brand of the owners filters down to the team – store managers, hair and beauty advisors, hairdressers and body piercers – there’s an impact created with every single customer that walks through the Hairhouse Warehouse doors,” Joseph said. Keeping their eye on the prize the group understand that to remain number one you need a strong management team and building on Tony and Joseph’s legacy; Emad Nayef and Gavin Nixon are poised to further grow the brand as a bigger international group with more and more brands in the future. It’s this adding of services and strategies that will continue to propel the brand’s growth. For example, one successful salon that added body piercing to there service menu is taking home more than $7,500 in body piercing sales in a week alone. They are investing 100 per cent – not playing around on the side. They have a dedicated room, research on the next trends and an expanded range of jewellery. They achieved an impressive 42 per cent growth. It’s examples like this across all aspects of the business that Hairhouse Warehouse are continuing to instill in their company culture. INSTYLE 49