Despite revenues of beauty salons and barbers across the UK dropping significantly, in Cardiff there are plenty of salons making changes to avoid the worst of the cost of living crisis. Whether it's been raising prices or investing in eco-friendly gadgets, adaptivity has been essential to hair salons looking to bounce back from the pandemic.
We went to Michelle Marshall Salon in the city centre expecting to hear the national picture - of customers spending less money, less often - repeated on a local level. But Michelle herself told us otherwise - business is booming, and she said: "We've grown, in fact."
She explained the reasons behind this - the pandemic forced her two salons (one in Wyndham Arcade and one in Rhiwbina) to switch to using biodegradable single-use gowns and towels, rather than reusable ones. When restrictions lifted, Michelle's team realised changing back to reusable gear would increase costs.
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The salon has also installed eco-friendly taps which helps save on water bills. All the salon's lights are LEDs, too.
Michelle said some people were booking appointments less often, but pointed out: "People may stretch their appointments out a couple more weeks but they still need their greys covered! If we’ve got regulars coming in saying they’ve had a horrible time, lost their jobs and so on, we’ll ask them to come in on a training day [to save money].
"I think there are going to be other hairdressers who will struggle with the cost of living. In times like this we have had lots of meetings with our managers and we’ve really had to make sure we’re doing our best to make sure people will still come in."
Michelle acknowledges that the impact of rising energy costs might only be felt after the winter, but is confident that she's invested in the right ways. She said: "It’s not about spending less, it’s about spending more to make more.
"We need to think - what are we doing differently from the salon up the road? If we’re the same, why come to us?"
She also added that a post-pandemic move from the Duke Street Arcade has helped, both in terms of rent and footfall. The Wyndham Arcade branch's manager, Georgia Davies, explained the importance of making customers' spending feel like it's worth their while.
She said: "We're just making it a five-star service so the customers are getting value for money with massages, and massage chairs, and getting an extra special treatment."
Down the road and around the corner, the towering Duke Street branch of Lazarou Hair Salon and Barbers is usually full of customers - and director Andreas Lazarou said the branch was "busier than ever." He said that since March 2022, after the peak of the Omicron wave of Covid, business has been picking up.
Some customers have been opting for less expensive treatments, but Lazarou's prices have actually increased - and Andreas says generally it hasn't harmed customers.
The Lazarou chain is family-run, with different members of the family across the generations managing their own branches. Andreas is responsible for the Duke Street and Talbot Green branches.
It might seem like a bigger business is able to take more risks to stay in the black, but Andreas said the size of the business is sometimes one of the main challenges. He said: "I think it's worse for a bigger business.
"My costs are far higher than average. If I was a smaller business, I could work it on my own - but I've got people and I've got different ways to look after my people."
He explained that it's out of the question to cut back on staff, because it's his staff who keep the business running - but that means savings have to be found elsewhere - hence the price increase.
He said that the cost of consumables has also gone up, with hair colour products being the biggest culprit, partly due to the sheer number of them the business uses. He explained: "A coffee cup costs about 10 pence more than it used to, but we don’t use thousands of them."
Energy-saving is on the agenda for Andreas, too. He said: "We were using disposable towels through lockdown, so [when we went back to regular towels] we got an A+++ energy rated tumble dryer.
"Any area we can manage costs, we do. We're more aware of sustainability than ever, and we can reduce our environmental impact and our costs."
The water-saving taps also make an appearance at Lazarou, and Andreas said being able to rely on a name recognition that's been established for decades is helpful. He also added that Cardiff in general, and the city centre specifically, is an ideal place for a hair salon.
He said that concerts - especially those across the road at Cardiff Castle over the summer, as well as rugby and football matches - are always good days for business. It might seem surprising that someone would wander down to see Wales play the All Blacks and come away with a new trim, but Andreas said it often happens "when their partners are doing some shopping or when their mates are having a drink."
The picture in Cardiff's flagship successful salons might be more positive than expected - but UK-wide, payment app Lopay analysed 17,750 transactions at 100 beauty salons and barbers nationwide over a six-month period, and found that spending dipped just as the cost of living crisis began to get work. Average sales per merchant dipped by 19.9% in September and the average money spent by a customer fell from £48.38 to £32.08.
Richard Carter, co-founder of Lopay, said: "Looking a million dollars has become increasingly unaffordable for millions of Britons grappling with soaring food and energy bills at home. Something has got to give, and for many people that’s often discretionary spending on things like beauty and leisure."
In the High Street Arcade, Sleep When You're Dead Tattoo and Barbers is also managing to keep things running despite the cost of living. Head barber Miles O'Keefe said: "To be honest what we've noticed is clients coming back a little less frequently - every four to five weeks, rather than every two to three.
Miles said Sleep When You're Dead was fortunate to have a big enough clientele that customers are still coming to the shop in good numbers, but added that energy-saving was still important. He said: "We've got three floors and if there's no-one working on the ground floor, the lights are turned off. That's done more than it was before the cost of living crisis."
"I'd like to hope that people still come back to us," he added. Miles also said that the business' good fortune might be down to the fact that many people come along to a hair salon for a chat, as well as just a haircut.
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