Point of View: Making a Salon Entertaining

In honor of our entertainment issue, we wanted our Point of View respondents to have some fun with this month’s question. So, we asked a nails-only salon owner, a full-service salon owner, and a booth renter: If you had an unlimited budget, what would you do to make your salon more entertaining for clients? Read on for their different perspectives.

Shannon Chomanczuk

A Polished Image

New Windsor, N.Y.

First, I would buy three Murano Spa pedicure stations with three technician stools. I’d have shoji screens between each of the stations for privacy. I’d have a snack station with ice water and fresh fruit installed in the pedicure area. I would have a sound system installed in the ceiling; it would play soothing spa music. In the manicure area, I would have custom wrought-iron and glass polish racks with matching retail shelves.

The front of the salon would boast a state-of-the-art one cup cappuccino machine with dessert and snack offerings. This area would also have glass retail shelves placed in the front windows. These displays would be updated and changed monthly or with the seasons and holidays.

If only money were no object I would have the best salon in town. I hope to one day fulfill my dream and am taking steps toward this goal.

Jeanine “bean” Longo

The Beehive Salon

Brooklyn, N.Y.

I have a few ideas for how to make the salon more entertaining, and since we plan to expand in the near future, some of these ideas might actually become a reality! I would love to have a live DJ spinning tunes on Monday mornings, Friday nights and Sunday brunch to set the perfect mood. Another idea I have is for an astrologer to do readings while clients are getting their hair done. I’d also add a specialty coffee and juice bar.

We have both a salon and a spa, and the locations are eight blocks apart from each other. With an unlimited budget, I’d buy a carriage and hire a driver to shuttle clients back and forth. Everyone’s newly styled hair would blow in the wind as they relax on the way to their next service. And service-wise, I’d add hand and scalp massages to the menu.

Also, so busy moms can relax and not stress about babysitters, I’d provide on-site daycare. Dreams are great!

Lisa Deviese

Manhattan Hair

Trussville, Ala.

I’ve always been an avid reader, and I think it would be great to have a nail salon with a library. It wouldn’t be a stuffy and quiet library, but more a book entertainment center—kind of like a Barnes & Noble style area with a coffee shop, wide-screen TVs, and wireless Internet access.

I posed this entertainment question to my clients, and they offered a different idea altogether. According to several clients, their idea of entertainment includes good- looking men giving foot massages, frozen daiquiris in the salon, limousines to and from their appointments, and an in-salon restaurant and shoe store.

My clients and I agreed it would also be great to have a sound-proof entertainment room for the kids, supervised, of course, with a nanny. For the male clientele, my husband recommended using the unlimited budget to hire the Rolling Stones and host an in-salon concert!