Ricky Walters: F*%ked up…but fixed it!
As part of our ‘F*%ked up…but fixed it!’ series here on the HUB, we’re asking salon and barber shop owners to get real with us about a mistake they’ve made in their business and the steps they took to secure a solution. This month, we hear from Ricky Walters, owner of SALON64 in London, about how his unconventional salon design was saved by a cup of hot chocolate…
THE F*%K-UP
You would imagine, starting a visually unique salon that looks absolutely nothing like a traditional salon, can only be a fantastic selling point. Wrong! Although this may be the case now that we are five years old, it caused a huge problem within our first year of opening.
Clients would run around Soho, searching for a salon to have their hair blow-dried, styled, cut or coloured. They’d peer into SALON64, but with our fire pits roaring and mirrors hidden (they fold away when not in use), it looks more like a members’ club or hotel lobby, so they’d move on, seeking out a more recognisable salon setup. People would often walk into the salon asking for sushi, a room for the night, a table for two… everything other than the services we provided.
Being such a new concept and looking so different was not working to our advantage – the public couldn’t see how incredible this salon can be.
THE FIX
Knowing we had a stunning brand, concept and salon space, it was purely a matter of educating the public on this brand-new reality. We needed them to stop and listen to what we had to say, and the opportunity to show them the space. A spot of creative thinking was needed!
On rotation, our team members stood outside the salon, in the busy Soho high-street in the dead of winter. We offered little samples of steaming hot chocolate in tiny paper takeaway cups. Although people came rushing over (everyone loves a freebie), they didn’t hang around long enough for us to introduce our brand. They would grab the hot chocolate and run away. Some even mistook us for a cafe specialising in hot chocolate.
So, we thought on our feet, replacing the paper cups with glassware. People were again attracted to the tiny shot glasses of hot chocolate but this time, when somebody took a glass from the tray, my team would walk inside. Being far too polite to ever steal a glass, people followed us inside the shop desperate to return it. This provided us with the perfect opportunity to educate the public, touring them around the salon. We got our message across and luckily haven’t had to stand outside with hot chocolate again since.