Interior Moves
Improve Marketability Through
Remodeling
by Matt Morgan
Yes, you need a change.
Welcome to the world of remodeling, where old becomes new again, and profits
soar.
A remodel can be any change to the salon that makes it different. On the simple end, that could include a fresh coat of paint, new carpeting or new flooring. More involved (and more expensive) projects could be resizing rooms and adding new equipment.
Remodeling might be needed to fix an oversight in the original layout or theme of a salon. It could be that what worked five or 10 years ago simply isnt pulling in the tanners these days.
When many salon owners first open their businesses, they pick a theme that they like. The first thing that most people do right away is go with the tropical theme, until they realize that probably 70 percent of the people want the tropical theme, says Jerry Deveney, president of SunForce Marketing, Inc. in Jonesboro, Ark. Its expected, but no longer unique.
Those owners maybe didnt consider their demographics. Perhaps they made another mistake: With their eye on immediate cash flow, they packed as many rooms and beds in as they could at the expense of temperature and circulation.
More demographic-specific themes, better lighting, better air conditioning andspace permittingbigger rooms all are trends in todays salon remodels, Deveney says.
Owners are finding that tanning salons can be anything they want it to be, he says. They can promote it and make themselves unique. Thats what most people do in a remodel.
The most common remodel involves new paint or carpet. Others include adjusting the size or location of tanning rooms to accommodate new equipment or improve air flow. Although it may not seem like it, new equipment is as much a part of the remodel as anything else, Deveney says.
If you put in a fresh coat of paint, new flooring and new bathrooms, and you have 10-year-old equipment, you didnt really accomplish anything, he says. You cant run a limousine service today with an 85 Caddy, yet some people try because in their mind it still runs like a champ. Yet the prom queen is not going to get in it.
An equipment upgrade can significantly drive up the cost of a remodel. Distributors will work with salons to sell used equipment and replace them with newer models. But at the very least, salon owners should have equipment in mind with resizing rooms.
The Right Reasons
Since salons remodel for a variety of reasons, owners considering a job first must ask themselves a crucial question: Why?
Change for the sake of change is never a good idea. This is especially true when thousands of dollars are on the line.
Some people think that a remodel is going to automatically improve their business, when the reality is it could be that they need to improve their selling techniques and the personality of their salon, Deveney says.
Even if sales are solid, a remodel still may be in order.
A remodelif you do something very nice and chic and cleantends to ward off a potential competitor, because it shows that the owner is aggressive and willing to invest, he continues. What attracts a competitor is someone who has the same old, same old and is still doing good business. They see a 10-year-old salon, the beds are ancient, the place is dusty, it still has that 80s look to itand the lobbys full. They say, I bet I could come in with a new place and kick butt.
They probably could. They build a state-of-the-art salon down the street and the 80s salon customers are bound to go in for a visit. If they get in there and they try it out and they like it, then youre in trouble.
Instead, become that new place with a remodel. Popular salons are those with personality, whether it is the warm tone of the tropical theme or the alluring coolness of brushed metal and stained redwood.
The salons that are doing betterand their seasons are becoming longerare the ones that have given their salon a personality, says David Moore, co-owner of Tabs Distribution, Inc. in Indianapolis. When you walk into the store, its like, Wow! I want to tan here, and they havent even seen the equipment.
Trendy is all well and good, except trends change. The key for salon owners is to see trends and pounce to get the most out of them before they pass.
You dont want to be reactive, Deveney says. You want to look and see whats going on in your community and respond accordingly. If you notice that you have a huge market of college studentsand thats the way the markets going to bethen you need to set your theme accordingly.
You may offer free Internet service while theyre waiting.
Whereas if your community is mainly professional working people, 35 to 45, certainly the other motif is not going to work there.
Its OK to borrow from other areasincluding the auto and fashion industries as well as health clubs. Coffee bars and Internet cafs often are trend-setters.
What I see happening now is everybodys going with the art-deco, European lookkind of edgy, Deveney says.
That seems to be what is very appealing.
Any marketing guru will explain that changes get noticed.
Thats not to say costly remodels should be done all the time.
Once a salons main decor is set after a remodel, details such as new paint jobs can be changed about once a year to stay at the forefront of tanners minds.
Plan, Plan, Plan
Now that an owner has figured out why he or she wants to remodel, the next step is to decide what needs changing, Moore says. Is it the decor? The size of the rooms?
Is it the flow of the retail space?
Regardless of what is going to be remodeled, a plan must be in place. Salon owners need to prepare everything for a smooth, trouble-free remodel.
The main thing is to have everything setyour contractors, your inspection people, your electricians all ready to come in and be done at one time,
Deveney says. You obviously have to map it out and have a plan. You dont want to find out you cant do something because the electrician hasnt run the wire yet, or the painter cant do something else because some guy hasnt taken down a wall yet.
There has to be a sequence of events that has to be prepared.
Minimizing downtime and inconvenience keeps customers happy. Do the tanners know about the construction to come? They should. Improving the interior of a salon is for nothing if clients get fed up, leave during the remodeling process and never return. Notices should be posted in all the rooms and throughout the salon well in advance. For those with e-mail capabilities, notices can be sent instantly.
Sometimes a salon can stay open during remodeling. The obvious benefit here is that business doesnt stop and money continues to roll in. A client of Moores in Ohio remodeled one side of the salonreplaced carpet with hardwood flooring, swapped old equipment with newand then did the same to the other side.
Al Palumbo, owner of Planet Sun in Ridgefield, N.J., recently remodeled his salon after it was damaged by a fire in his building. While he closed his salon for three months, he offered some advice on staying open during remodeling. Make sure you have a contractor who knows how to work cleansomeone who always is cleaning up after himself. It should be done in stages if you stay opensuch as the front, center and rear of the salonso that customers feel comfortable.
There are times when closure cant be helped. Moore suggests making the most of it. They inform the customer about whats going on and then make some sort of compromise to them so they feel theyre getting something for their inconvenience, he says. One multi salon owner diverted clients to its other stores during the remodel.
Some even have turned it into a marketing strategy for tanning packages. The construction sale is the one that comes to my mind, Moore says. For your inconvenience, if you buy six sessions were going to give you three for free, because you have to drive the extra five miles to our other stores.
Asking Around
Salon owners have a vast wealth of knowledge at their fingertips, and its a good idea to tap into those resources especially before work begins.
Some people like to bring in interior decorators firsta professional firmand say, Look at my place. Heres what Im going for. What do I do? Deveney says. If you bring in too many friends and family, who knows? Everybody has an opinion and that can drive you nuts.
Consider asking another salon owner what strategies worked or didnt work in a recent remodel. Talk to a distributor.
Distributors likely have seen it all when it comes to this subject.
They can be wonderful sources of knowledge, because they can draw on experiencesmistakes as well as successesfrom all of their salons.
Call your local distributor and tell them what youre thinking about doing and get their input, Moore says.
It doesnt mean that youre going to do exactly what they say, but at least youve heard something and can say, You know, I didnt like that part of it but that other part makes sense. It could end up making the salon owners life a whole lot easier.
Some people might be tempted to attempt projects on their own because they believe it will make it easier or save money. Some owners are your typical do-it-yourselfers who want to do it and they dont want to pay somebody else to do it, Moore says. This could work for smaller projects such as a bathroom remodel, and it might be the perfect summer project for a handy, hands-on owner.
Then you might have your chain salon that has three or four salons, and the owner will hire somebody in to get it knocked down and get it over with, Moore continues.
Deveney agrees with this logicskip the headache and call a contractor.
There are a lot of things you can do yourself, but I would get professional people to do this because time is money, and if you try to cut corners or do it yourself, it can bog your business down for months, he explains. For me, its always that you want to have your crew of professional people where everybody knows what theyre doing. They come in and they get it done.
Most of salon remodels will involve partition walls, carpeting or painting that wont bring the local inspector to the front door. But asking about state codes is an advisable early step. Every area has its own set of codes and a salon owner may have to obtain a permit for remodeling, depending on the size of the job.
It probably would behoove everyone to make that call, Moore recommends. Just say, I have some partition walls that Im building, and its my understanding that I dont need a permit for that. Have them verify that, get the persons name and go on doing what youre doing.
However, the call to inspectors may alert them to a salon owners activities and invite a host of hassles. But wouldnt he or she want to know before rather than after the construction is done that a new floor covering or sprinkler system is required?
The local codes may call for updates to handicapped accessibility, Deveney says. You may remodel and they say, If youre going to remodel, now you have to make your halls 4 feet wide, now you have to put in a handicapped bathroom.
Certain landlords may have money set aside for remodeling because it contributes to the overall improvement of the building. Deveney recommends asking the landlord if money is available for that type of project. Dont be afraid to negotiate.
Time And Money
Sadly, no one seems to have enough time or money. The best time to remodel is during the summer, after business slows down and the fewest customers will be inconvenienced by flying paint, dust and mind the mess signs.
Thats where I see most of the people making changes and doing different thingsin the summertime, when its slow, getting ready for the busy season, trying to change something around, make something different, Moore says.
This presents a catch-22 for salon owners, however, because the slow time also is when they have the least amount of cash handy to fund a remodeling project.
Thats why financial planning is so important.
Everybody has great intentions and good ideas, but the capital isnt there, Moore says. The best time of the year to remodel is the worst time of the year for money. So you had to have planned on doing this during January and February.
Planning for it during the busy time and setting money aside is going to make life a whole lot easier come slow season.
Loans are available for larger jobs, but simple year-round budgeting may shake out enough money for smaller projects.
There are so many techniques that salon owners can use nowadays to generate cash on a year-round basis, Deveney says.
You may take in enough money from January to June to float you for the rest of the year.
How much will remodeling set back a salon owner? Because the types of work varies so widely, the cost will vary too. According to Moore, simple projects such as remodeling the bathroom and installing a new front counter could run as low as $1,000. Yet throw in a new drop ceiling, air conditioning and a paint job, and salon owners can add another zero to the total.
It could be that $10,000 hit that nobody wants to take, but if you planned for it, its no big deal, Moore explains. Its just, We knew this was coming, weve taken $1,500 out of our busiest months and it doesnt affect our normal cash flow.
Remodeling is not for everyone. Some projects can be too pricey and time-consuming to be practical. But for salon owners who have been thinking about a change, this year may be the perfect time to plan to repaint, swap flooring, add more air conditioning, move walls or update equipment. Spending a little money now could improve a salons look, re-establish its prominence in the market and pave the way for increased profits down the road.
by Scott Eric Barrett
Modern salons understand that appearance is very important to overall success. When the time comes to change their look, salon operators must take a hands-on approach to the project. LOOKING FIT recently spoke to a couple of salon operators about their remodels.
PLANET SUN, RIDGEFIELD, N.J.
Faced with disaster at his salon, Al Palumbo seized an opportunity to remodel. Planet Sun is on the second floor of a building that suffered extensive fire damage recently. Aside from broken glass, the odor of smoke was a big-time problem that seemed to get into everything, Palumbo says.
He decided he would take the opportunity to make some additional changes. During a 3-month closure, Palumbo replaced all of the flooring, ceiling and tiles, and repainted the entire salon. He also moved some walls around and increased the salons incoming electrical capacity.
In total, we spent around $50,000, he says. Of that amount, $38,000 was covered by his insurance company as a result of the fire damage.
My stores are not very fancy, but I always make sure they are clean, friendly and comfortable, Palumbo says.
I kept that in mind when I worked on my plan for remodeling.
Having reliable contractors is very important in any remodeling project, he says. It can make or break the projects time period, and also helps if a salon owner decides to stay open during the project.
SUPERTAN, INC., LUBBOCK, TEXAS
Salon owner Brad Salley wanted to maximize the space in his tanning suites. He converted a 10-foot-by-10-foot room that featured one stand-up unit into an open area that now has two standups with attached dressing rooms.
We doubled revenue potential without adding any more square footage to the building for more than $600, he says.
The remodel also included removing existing walls and a door, relocating wiring, adding ceramic tile, patching sheetrock and crown molding, painting and lighting. New tanning units, dressing booths and electrical work were considerably more, Salley says, adding that the actual update of the salon was easy and affordable.
Its nice in your customers eyes when you are making improvements that benefit them as well as the overall performance of the salon, Salley says. I think the No. 1 factor for any remodel is whether the project will create more revenue. Whether making room for bigger upgrade beds or using space more efficiently, it must pay for itself.
