A Rainy Day Treat

This winter has wreaked havoc on the East Coast. Record snowfalls for Washington D.C., followed by days-long deluges up the Northeast have threatened to mess with businesses at times when they're typically busiest—the weekends. But instead of taking their lumps, retailers and online shops are posting robust sales. And one niche industry—the hair salon—is thriving in this soggy transitional period from the doldrums of winter to the first signs of spring.

On New York's Upper East Side, the Paul Labrecque Salon & Spa is humming with activity. Booked solid from 9am until close to closing time at 8pm, women and men are braving 50 miles-per-hour wind and pouring rain, to get their hair and grooming done. “We've been very busy despite the recession,” says general manager Jessica Steinman. “Anything that has to do with maintenance, from cuts to color to hightlights, clients are not willing to give up on,” she says. Adds Labrecque, “clients will tighten their budgets in other ways—be it dining out, buying clothing or traveling—to afford the upkeep of their personal experience.”

Of course, it helps that celebrity stylist Labrecque, who counts First Lady Michelle Obama, actresses Renne Zellwegger, Anne Hathaway and Reese Witherspoon among his clients, makes it a point to visit each of his three salon location every day he's in the city (he and partner Brian Cantor leave for the Hamptons on Saturday afternoons and spend Sundays there). He recently opened his third location in Midtown Manhattan's exclusive CORE: club, a member-only location specializing in luxury services. The decision to partner with CORE made the venture a lot more attractive to Labrecque. Here was an opportunity to expand without having to scout for a new location, build up a clientele and hire more staff. Leveraging the club's built-in client base, the salon offers services “on demand,” shuttling stylists and manicure/pedicurists to the midtown location.

It's a model that's working out well for the salon entrepreneur, who's also grooming nearly everyone on staff, from assistants to stylists, to be able to one day venture out on their own. “I get to see what it takes from the business side to run a salon,” says stylist and color specialist Jerami. “I want to open my own place sometime down the line, and this is providing me with a hands-on education about what goes on.” Apprentice Simone echoes that sentiment. Having come from the corporate world working for Philip Morris, “I just wanted to do hair,” she says. But she has goals that extend further and she has her entrepreneurial eye on the lookout for further opportunities. “It's rare in the business world that you can work so closely with someone who's done it themselves and really learn from their struggles and successes,” she says.

So while the economic picture out there still looks gloomy and soggy with uncertainty, at a Manhattan salon, recovery seems to be well on its glamorous way back in style.