Tag: salons

Radiance Holdings, Owner of Sola Salons, Bought by TSG

~ Joseph Kellner

Private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners (“TSG”) has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Radiance Holdings, a high-growth platform representing a collection of premier brands in the beauty, wellness, and self-care sectors. As part of the transaction, Radiance Holdings’ management team will continue to lead the company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The company, based in Denver, Colo., is committed to investing in its brands, driving innovation, and helping their franchisees and community of independent beauty professionals grow their businesses and improve their lives. Radiance Holdings’ current portfolio is approximately 85 percent franchised and includes the following brands:

  • Sola Salons: Founded in 2004, Sola Salons is the world’s largest and fastest growing salon studios franchise with approximately 650 locations across the U.S. and Canada as of December 2022. Sola Salons rents premium suites to individual beauty care professionals, providing them with more autonomy and better economics than traditional salons.
  • Woodhouse Spas: Founded in 2001, Woodhouse Spas is the largest premium day spa brand in the U.S. with approximately 80 locations across the U.S. as of December 2022. Woodhouse Spas feature a multi-modality platform, anchored by massage and skincare, which brings resort-level quality to convenient neighborhood locations.

“TSG has an impressive track record of building and scaling world-class beauty and franchising brands, and we are thrilled to work with them,” said Christina Russell, CEO of Radiance Holdings. “We couldn’t be more excited to leverage TSG’s resources and expertise as we look to expand our platform and enhance our value proposition for franchisees, beauty care professionals, and consumers across our portfolio. As we build on our momentum and the powerful growth opportunities ahead, it’s critical that we collaborate with a partner that understands our business and has been down a similar road many times with brands that we admire.”

“Radiance Holding is empowering a new generation of beauty professionals seeking to work independently and offer their clientele more control over their salon experience, a trend accelerated by the pandemic,” said Michael Layman, managing director at TSG. “Their portfolio of differentiated brands are exceeding consumer expectations and are well positioned for further growth.”

Pierre LeComte, managing director at TSG, said, “We look forward to partnering with Christina and the management team to continue scaling their national platform in beauty and personal care through a variety of initiatives, including thoughtful digital marketing efforts developed in collaboration with TSG’s Digital Team, accelerated franchise development, strategic acquisitions, and service line extensions.”

UK Government to Help The Hairdressing Industry

~ Joseph Kellner

The hair industry has been one of the most affected sectors from the pandemic and the National Hair & Beauty Federation’s (NHBF) latest report shows turnover falling by 45% in 2020, compared to 2019.

Due to social distancing restrictions, salon capacity fell to 70% of what it was before the pandemic began, with hair businesses losing on average two hours of appointment time per stylist per day, the report found.

The average cash loss to a business in 2020 was £17,000, with those over the VAT threshold taking an even bigger hit, and one in 10 businesses did not return any income or dividend to their owners or managers, the data revealed. Full-time employment in the sector is also down 21% on 2019 figures.

As such, the NHBF states that there are now many hair and beauty businesses which are acutely vulnerable to failure in the next 12 months, especially as 2021 is expected to be just as tough a year as 2020. Without further support from Government, most expect to survive two-to-three months (from January 2021) if coronavirus lock-down continues, the NHBF’s report states.

The report also revealed that the Covid-19 crisis has a disproportionate impact on women and those in deprived communities – for example, hair and beauty business owners are 82% female, with an 88% female workforce.

There is also a higher proportion of personal care businesses than any other sector in the most deprived areas of the UK, with closure of these places posing a risk to those in the local community who are most likely to be employed at these salons.

Reducing VAT to 5% would add £16,000 to the average VAT registered business, closing the cash gap by one-third, states the report. This would reduce to 6% the proportion of businesses not returning anything to their owners or managers.

If 18% of the businesses which would have otherwise failed survive as a result of reducing VAT to 5%, then the policy pays for itself through the taxes they will pay.

Talking about the NHBF’s report findings, chief executive Richard Lambert said: “While the future could be bleak for the personal care sector, intervention now and immediately following reopening will have a life-changing positive effect. There’s nothing coming in, but the overheads still have to be paid. When we are closed, we are closed. We can’t diversify into takeaways and online sales.

“The personal care sector is calling for a specific grant to support businesses through the immediate cashflow crisis, in line with similar funds that have been afforded to many other sectors, including the arts, hospitality and leisure, and the aeronautical industry, among others.”

He added: “We also need support after reopening to keep cash in these businesses so they can recover. The bigger businesses have been hit the hardest and are now the most vulnerable to failure. A targeted VAT cut to 5% would allow them to re-build, invest in staff and apprentices, and once again be the heart of their high streets and communities. We’ve shown this move will pay for itself, so it’s a cost-effective solution for the Government.

“Right now, it feels like we are last in line for support, flippantly disregarded within Parliament and overlooked by Government, despite the billions of pounds we contribute to the economy each year.”

The NHBF has been working with the British Beauty Council (BBC), British Association of Beauty Therapists and Cosmetologists (Babtac) and the UK Spa Association (UKSA) to lobby the Department for Business (BEIS), the Treasury and the Cabinet Office for an urgent Personal Care crisis fund and a reduction in VAT.

Nail, Hair and Skin Pros Sue California Gov. Newsom

~ Joseph Kellner

The beauty industry joined restaurants in suing California Governor Newsom, requesting immediate and permanent reopening. The vast majority of the beauty industry is made up of women, first-generation immigrants and the LGBT community. Ten months after the Governor mandated salon closures, the state has failed to produce any “data and science” justifying the criminalization of the services of these state licensed professionals.

“Our small businesses, less financed and politically connected than multinational corporations, Hollywood and other so-called ‘essential businesses’, have become the go-to sacrificial lambs to the Covid gods,” said Professional Beauty Federation of California (PFBC) Counsel and Advocate Fred Jones. “This has been ruinous for thousands of our establishments and the livelihood of tens of thousands, without any justifiable basis.”

Lead counsel and high-profile LA attorney Mark Geragos commented: “What has become obvious is that the Governor and so called health officials never followed ‘science or data’ on closing down outdoor dining or capricious lock-downs of safe barbershops and beauty salons. Instead of following the science they followed the Lobbyists and allowed film companies to utilize hairstylists and makeup artists, while preventing the same services to be done in salons by the very same trained professionals. By definition this is ‘unequal treatment under the law’.”

“Cutting hair is a criminal act in only one State in the Union,” reminded PBFC President Ted Nelson. “Governor Newsom is arbitrarily and needlessly destroying the livelihoods of state licensed professionals who have the formal education and training to keep their clientele safe from infections, as the CDC has acknowledged. Shame on him!

JCPenney Is Closing Store’s

~ Joseph Kellner

J.C. Penney continues to shrink as it tries to beat a path out of bankruptcy. The retailer is in Chapter 11 in part because of a huge lack of sales. A sign that the company was out-sized relative to a diminished customer base.

Following a comprehensive review of our retail footprint, JCPenney made the difficult decision to announce over 150 store closures. Liquidation sales at most closing store locations are now underway. In a hearing this week, an attorney for the retailer said that vendors are holding back inventory as they wait for a deal to be signed and closed.

JCPenney is trying to move forward on its proposed deal to sell its department store operations to Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners.

Sephora inside JCPenney is closed in liquidating stores. Sephora items purchased prior to Friday, June 12, 2020, may be returned throughout the entire liquidation sale at most closing stores. Dates may vary by location. Contact your local store for more details.

Most hair salons in closing stores will operate through mid-August, yet this is subject to change on a location-by-location basis. The company spent so much time over the past 10 years “re-branding” itself that it forgot about the most important piece…It’s associates working in the stores and the customers shopping in it. Sad state of affairs.

Their is zero support of managers from upper management. Your job security is based on weather or not the upper management likes you and when you ask for guidance you are basically told to figure it out yourself.

This company talks about training and promoting within the company. They will go outside the company to hire for a job that use associates within the salon. Very poor company on promoting the associates. Sad state of affairs for loyal employee’s of this company. But you will find out in the beauty industry it is all over like a virus, the way employee’s are taken advantage of. No benefits, lack of a living wage, no insurance etc. I hope they all find good employment.

Beauty Industry Group Sues Over Shop Closings

~ Joseph Kellner

Newsom announced last week that salons could not reopen yet after revealing that the first case of known community-to-community transmission of the coronavirus in the state, in February, had been traced to a nail salon. He did not give further details about the salon or the patient.

In the lawsuit, the Professional Beauty Federation of California and others say that the order to remain closed deprives salon workers of their constitutional rights and that the classifications of “essential” vs. “nonessential” businesses are arbitrary, among other complaints.

Newsom announced last week that salons could not reopen yet after revealing that the first case of known community-to-community transmission of the coronavirus in the state, in February, had been traced to a nail salon. He did not give further details about the salon or the patient.

The revelation came in response to a reporter’s question about why salons were put in phase 3 of reopening, after parks and retail stores were allowed to reopen Friday, May 8. “This whole thing started in the state of California — the first community spread — at a nail salon,” Newson said at a news briefing. “I’m very worried about that.  Phase 3, when the salons are due to open, “may not even be more than a month away,” he said.  The February transmission occurred, he said, even though salon workers were already practicing protective measures such as wearing masks and gloves.  Before opening the salons and beauty colleges back up, he said, “We just want to make sure we have a protocol in place to secure the safety of customers, the safety of employees, and allow the business to thrive in a way that is sustainable.”

California’s shutdown that went into effect in mid-March affects barbers, aestheticians, electrologists, hair stylists, cosmetologists, and manicurists, said Fred Jones, counsel for the Professional Beauty Federation of California and a lobbyist.

He says that health and safety instruction make up a large part of the salon workers’ training.

In California, 621,742 people hold licenses from the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology.

The Board of Barbering and Cosmetology’s laws and regulations that cover people providing salon services already require a number of health and safety measures, such as disinfecting tools and foot spas, single use of towels and robes, and personal cleanliness for workers providing services. Cheri Gyuro, a spokesperson for the California Department of Consumer Affairs, says the board is working on guidelines for COVID-19 that will be made public when they are complete.