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Beauty and the biz: Metro Vancouver’s single-service esthetic business boomOne-product grooming businesses blossoming in city’s Yaletown districtBy Noa Glouberman A new type of business is taking over one of Vancouver’s trendiest neighbourhoods. While spas and salons offering a range of esthetic services still abound, niche beauty providers, each with a single stylish offering, are quickly laying claim to Yaletown – and beyond. Among them: •Pure Nail Bar (manicures/pedicures); •Skoah (facials); •Blo Blow Dry Bar (hair styling); •Pure Smile Studio (tooth whitening); •Noir Lash Lounge (eyelash extensions); •Bombay Brow Bar (eyebrow shaping); •Stripped Wax Bar (body hair removal); and •Rouge Make-Up Lounge (makeup application). Look below the surface and you’ll see just how much these B.C.-born-and-bred businesses have in common. “We each do one thing, and we each do it really well,” Joyce Poon, founder of Vancouver-based Noir Lash Louge, told Business in Vancouver. “For us it’s semi-permanent eyelash extensions. That isn’t an added service – it’s our only service.” Rather than limiting sales, singularity is Poon’s secret to success. “We’ve been able to concentrate on becoming the last word on lashes,” she explained. “It also lets us offer an unparalleled level of service for hundreds less than a high-end salon, because we don’t have to worry about training and equipment and extra space for anything other than eyelashes.” Ravy Mehroke, who opened Bombay Brow Bar’s doors down the street from Noir during the 2010 Winter Olympics, agrees. “We have a major brow obsession – it’s all we do,” said the commerce graduate, who’s fielded several offers to open additional brow bars across Canada in the six months she’s been in business. “Some startups wouldn’t survive with one product, but we followed a tried-and-true model that let us focus exclusively on eyebrows and becoming experts in providing that service.” The business plan Mehroke refers to was executed in Yaletown in 2007 by Judy Brooks, whose Blo Blow Dry Bar, co-founded with daughter Devon, has expanded to 11 Canadian and U.S. locations – including storefronts in South Granville and South Surrey’s Morgan Crossing area – in the space of three years. “When we first opened there wasn’t anyone else in North America doing no cuts, no colour, just blow-drying hair, so we figured we’ll just build our own business to fill that niche – and create an amazing brand and culture while we’re at it,” Brooks said. “Our success was so immediate that others soon followed.” Poon, for example, who launched her lash lounge out of a leased space adjacent to Blo in Yaletown, has closely trailed Brooks’ lead, opening a South Granville location near the blow-dry bar in April 2010 and, as of last week, announcing a third Noir in Morgan Crossing. “In business it’s always smart to look at something that’s working and say, ‘I’m going to align myself with that,’” said Brooks. “In this case, imitation really is the highest form of flattery because it’s allowed us to support each other, work together and share ideas and even a client base, because someone who enjoys Joyce’s service is likely to enjoy ours as well.” Having recently handed Blo’s reins over to new management (see “Fast-growing Blo loses founder” – issue 1084, August 3-9), Brooks now plans to spend more time providing business-consulting services to niche-beauty newcomers. One such up-and-comer, Susan Vu, opened her first Stripped Wax Bar – offering body hair-removal services – on Yaletown’s beauty block in late June. She, too, opted to follow the single-service plan because of its proven success. “Seeing Blo, Noir, Bombay and the others succeed in this neighbourhood, we knew this wasn’t going to be a failed venture, that we were going to hit the ground running,” she said from her Hamilton Street space. “We’ve been busy from Day 1.” Vu is no stranger to entrepreneurship; she opened her first retail fashion startup, Boudoir, in April 2008, and takes a keen interest in the business side of beauty. “The single-service model works well in this industry for several reasons,” Vu said. “For one, it lets you train experts who don’t have to switch between tasks like spa or salon estheticians do.” To that end Vu’s “strippers,” Mehroke’s “brow sculptresses,” Brooks’ “hair cadets” and Poon’s “noir stars” are thoroughly trained before they’re permitted to work on clients (in many cases, new hires are already established estheticians). “They become really, really quick at that one technique, without sacrificing quality,” Vu added. “That means we can see more clients in one day and, as a result, keep our prices a lot lower than a spa.” Like her predecessors, Vu’s sights are set on rapid expansion. “Yaletown was a market we absolutely knew we had to get into, and I wouldn’t have opened my first location anywhere else but here, but there’s tons of potential for growth in this business,” she said. “From here to Toronto – everything in-between is up for grabs.” • nglouberman@biv.com Beautiful business tips It sounds simple: create a company around a singular beauty offering. Not so fast! There are other components to the single-service business plan. •Location: set up shop close to businesses that complement your own. •Decor: a bigger space isn’t always better in the niche beauty biz, but avoid the dark, dungeon-like setting of many esthetic services of the past (translation: keep it light, trendy and hip). •Expertise: train your staff to be experts in providing your service. •Consistency: give clients the same experience every time they visit. •Accessibility: make your service quick, easy and affordable, without sacrificing quality. •Marketing: enough can’t be said for social media. Make Facebook, Twitter and other tools a part of your daily to-do list. •Branding: from signage to verbiage, create a look and feel that can’t be mistaken for any business but your own. This article from Business in Vancouver August 31-September 6, 2010; issue 1088 Business in Vancouver (www.biv.com) has been publishing in-depth local business news, analysis and commentary since 1989. The newspaper also produces a weekly ranked list of the biggest companies and players in a wide range of B.C. industries and commercial sectors, monthly features and industry-focused sections that arm its subscribers with a complete package of local business intelligence each week. |
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