Stylist Jade Thompson works on the hair of Kristen Weetenkamp of Paoli at Cherry Blow Dry Bar in the Paoli Shopping Center Tuesday. PETE BANNAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA
Kristen Weetenkamp, a busy health care professional, had an important business trip coming up when she decided to make a quick stop at the Paoli Shopping Center.
It was her first time at the Cherry Blow Dry Bar, which opened its first Pennsylvania franchise in the shopping center in July to tap into the Main Line market.
“It’s good to see it out in the suburbs,” Weetenkamp, 42, of Paoli, said of the new business. Blow dry bars have been around for about a decade but have been concentrated mostly in urban settings.
Unlike regular salons, stylists at dry bars don’t cut or color hair. They wash, dry and style it – sort of a tune-up in between regular cuts.
According to the franchise, the trend took off when the recession was still underway and women were saving money by not getting their hair cut and colored as frequently. Rather than pay upwards of $100 for such services, women could get a blowout for half the cost – and in half the time.
“I have to travel for work this week and I want to look good for work meetings while I’m on the road,” Weetenkamp said. “I get my hair done every eight weeks at a regular salon and I just wanted to try this out. It’s great to have for a special event. I love the concept.”
After she was done, Weetenkamp said her hair was “so much smoother and more polished” than when she came into Cherry. “It makes you feel good when your hair feels good.”
Her reaction is music to the ears of salon owner Bob Ferry, who was looking for a new career after spending 30 years in banking.
A former Goldman Sachs vice president, Ferry said he was attracted to Cherry Blow Dry Bar after growing tired of the monotony and the numbers-based world.
“I was told to retire a little earlier than I wanted,” said Ferry, 55, of Newtown Square. “I was just looking for something totally different ... I wanted a business with happy and pleasant workers and clients.”
Together with his wife, Michelle, also a veteran of the financial services industry, Ferry spent more than $300,000 to open the Paoli location. He said he plans to open at least three Cherry Blow Dry Bars in the Philadelphia area.
The Cherry franchise is based in Cherry Hill, N.J., and has a location in Florida, two in Virginia and one in San Francisco with another handful on the way.
“I’m friends with (one of the franchise owners),” Ferry said in explaining how he ended up in the hair business. “I had approached him about another business and he suggested this.”
“I knew nothing about hair, but saw a niche in the market and opportunity to get into an exploding industry without having to figure it out on my own,” Ferry said.
The business is based on volume and after a month the Paoli Cherry Blow Dry Bar is doing 90 to 95 services a week, about enough to break even. The goal, Ferry said, is to get that number up to around 110. It now has eight stylists and plans to have 14 or 15 when business picks up in the fall, “and hopefully we’ll keep growing from there.”
Katie Marucci, salon manager and master stylist, said there are six basic services, with the two most popular being the Big and Bouncy volume, body, and curls service and the Beachy Keen, which creates waves and texture.
The salon also provides hair extensions, scalp massages, protein treatments, braids and clip-in applications.
“It’s a quicker pace here than in a regular salon,” said Marucci, who has been in the industry for 10 years, most recently at a dry bar in Center City Philadelphia. “Instead of 2½ hours, here you’re done in 45 minutes or an hour.”
The business, open seven days a week, is membership-based with prices and deals dependent on the number of monthly visits. Introductory blowouts start at $36.
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