For health care workers and first responders dealing the pandemic, hair care may not be a top priority. But a salon in Minneapolis is giving those workers free hair services through December.
Now, Urban Village Salon Spa’s North Loop location in Minneapolis is mostly booked for the rest of December. The company also has a location on Cathedral Hill in St. Paul.
It wasn’t always this busy for them. Before December, the salon struggled to get customers in the door during the pandemic, according to co-owner Bee Peterson, of St. Paul.
“We signed our lease March 1st … we really have never taken off,” Peterson said in regards to the Minneapolis location. “The salon industry is down across the board. I think particularly being in a new location with no established business, there isn’t that trust there that we have at our St. Paul location.”
SALON BUSINESSES SEE DECREASE IN SALES DURING PANDEMIC
Salon businesses have seen a 40 percent to 50 percent decrease in sales since they were allowed to open in June, according to the Minnesota Board of Barber Examiners.
“Not a lot of people can afford to do things for themselves or really afford the time,” said Skye Schroeder, a stylist at the salon.
Two weeks after signing the lease in March, salons were ordered to close.
Peterson said they anticipated the pandemic to last only a couple of weeks. Those couple of weeks turned into three months, and when they finally opened their Minneapolis location in June, business was slower than ever.
“The week after Thanksgiving we were like, ‘What are we gonna do?’” Peterson said. “We’ve got all these stylists here, we’re slow, we don’t have anything to do, and you can just feel the morale around here diminishing.”
FREE HAIRCUTS FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS
In late November and early December, the salon announced they would offer free hair care services to emergency personnel and health care workers as a way to engage the stylists and give back to those on the front lines of the pandemic. Everyone seemed to be on board.
“We were all just like, ‘Yeah, for sure, let’s do it!’” said Emmaleigh Brown, a stylist at the salon. “Either they can pay us to sit around, do nothing, or pay us to do something awesome for the community.”
Within a few days of the announcement, appointment bookings increased.
“I went from having maybe a few people a day to seeing so many people,” Schroeder said. “My entire month booked up within probably a few days.”
HUMAN CONNECTION
Stylists at the salon said many of their clients became emotional when getting their hair done. One of Schroeder’s clients broke down, saying she hadn’t had time to think about hair care since the pandemic started.
“She was tearing up at the thought that we were considerate enough to think of nurses and see the value in what they do,” Schroeder said. “I think a lot of people aren’t appreciative, and for us to show support was so special for her.”
Peterson said they might not be able to afford to give another month’s worth of free services away, but the experiences in December alone opened her mind on how to pay services forward.
“If there’s been anything constant in this year of 2020 it’s that we have no idea what to expect,” Peterson said. “When you put your heart and your soul into your work and you put all the love into it, generally it works out, right? … I really feel a lot more optimism coming into 2021.”
The recent campaign might have helped develop their client base for whatever comes in the future, Peterson added. But that doesn’t mean they’re in it just for the future business.
“The reason I do my job is so that people feel better about themselves,” Schroeder said. “It’s really not to make money. It’s a passion, (and) hair and things like that just make somebody view themselves a tiny bit better. Whenever I elicit that response, it just means the world to me.”
For more information on Urban Village Salon Spa, visit: http://www.urbanvillagesalon.com/.
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