What is in the beauty pack
A salon buys its colour line, its furniture and its booking software once, in the weeks before it opens, and then keeps buying the same brand for years. These are the trades we report, in the week they appear.
Hair salons and barbers
The largest trade in the pack: hairdressers, barbers, salons for men, children and bridal work. A new chair means colour, care, tools, furniture and a booking system, and the colour house that is in the door first is usually still there five years later. Barbershops open fastest of all.
Beauty salons
Beauty salons and beauticians, the second largest group and the broadest in what they buy. Skincare lines, equipment, disposables and treatment furniture, most of it decided in the fitting-out weeks and rarely reopened afterwards. Many start from a room at home.
Nail salons
Nail salons and nail studios, the fastest-moving trade in the pack. High turnover of new openings, a consumables market that reorders constantly, and a strong first-supplier effect on gel, acrylic and equipment. Fit-out is light, so the gap between signing a lease and opening is short.
Massage practices
Massage salons and practitioners, including sports and Thai massage. Small practices, often one or two rooms, buying tables, oils, linen and practice software. They also appear in the health pack, and a subscriber to either gets them. Most are sole traders rather than chains.
Pedicures and foot care
Pedicures and foot care practices, frequently working from a treatment room at home or a room inside another salon. A distinct instrument and consumables market, and one that is hard to reach without a current list because so few advertise. They rarely appear in a directory.
And a good deal more
The pack also carries skin clinics, permanent make-up, lash and brow bars, laser and hair removal, tanning salons, make-up artists, spas and saunas, wellness centres, tattoo studios and the cosmetics and perfume shops that sell across all of it. New treatments arrive constantly.