Phenix Salon Suites anticipates an increase in business for stylists who want more security, safety and control over their operations.
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May 20, 2021
3 minutes to read
This story appears in the June 2021 issue of
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Phenix Salon Suites didn’t know they had a perfect business model for a pandemic. But in 2020, the franchise – which rents private workspaces to individual beauty professionals – quickly realized it was able to help a struggling industry deliver one-on-one services to cautious consumers. . The system’s more than 300 locations (each of which houses multiple suites) have not only survived COVID-19, but have thrived. Now, as conventional salons struggle to recover, Phenix anticipates an increase in business for stylists who want more security, safety and control over their operations. Brian Kelley, President and COO, explains how he and his franchisees are preparing for the rush.
Judging by all the self-inflicted haircuts that happened last spring, not many people were making their way to the salon when the pandemic hit. What did this do to your model?
The problem for our franchisees is that if the stylists aren’t working, the locations aren’t making money. So we increased communications with franchisees, helped them get rent deferrals with landlords, and helped them provide similar deferrals to their hairstylists. But once the regulations started to change and businesses started figuring out how to reopen, it was clear that our business was really designed to address social distancing concerns. We have stepped up the cleaning procedures, but we really haven’t had to change much. The privacy of the individual suites and their individual maintenance has helped to create a sense of security for our salon professionals and their clients.
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Do you see the pandemic having a long-term effect on your business?
There is a small revolution going on in our industry. People are going to continue to want high security protocols, and conventional lounges that bring everyone together in one space don’t provide that. Of course, the big downside to all of this for our industry is that many conventional shows are closing.
What does this mean for your business?
In 2020, compared to 2019, we saw a 344% increase in the number of hair salon professionals coming to our website, looking for a suite to rent. We need to prepare for this increase and do what we can to help the long-term pipeline of hair salon professionals. We go out and educate on our model and talk to beauty schools. And with our mobile app, we really help salon professionals manage their own clients and businesses.
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What does your mobile application look like?
It’s called Gina’s Platform – named after our founder – and it’s brand agnostic. Any stylist, whether or not they work in a Phenix store, can use it to run their business, pay rent, explore benefits, and process transactions. Stylists own small businesses, many of them are single mothers, many of them are breadwinners. We want to give them the tools to succeed. We have 3,400 users, and approximately 400 do not work at any of our sites.
How does the app help franchisees improve their operations?
Stylists can pay their weekly rent to franchisees, and they can use it to create marketing tools, which of course publicizes Phenix. We opened 34 new locations in 2019 and 33 last year. This year, we are projecting close to 50. We are here to support the industry.
