Should salons work on saturdays?

As the industry working model is shifting, HJ asks two experts for their point of view…

Yes

BRIAN MACMILLAN, SALON DIRECTOR, F&M

Your working hours and days are something that should be given huge consideration, as it is important to ensure it’s financially viable to open. It’s a decision that should be carefully thought out and researched, to make sure you are doing what is right for both your business and of course, your clients and team members.

Within our salon, F&M Hairdressing, our Saturdays have always been and continue to be hugely popular with our client base – this is something that has never changed since our very first weekend of opening, over 20 years ago. Although we have witnessed a slight shift in requests for weekday appointments, we are generally fully booked for weekends, with an 8-week waiting list for an appointment at present.

We have found that since the pandemic, there has been a small group of clients who have now opted for a weekday appointment, and this is down to many now working at home.

“Many clients don’t have the option to visit during the week”

However, the Saturday appointment is still as popular as ever and our client bases have expressed their desire for this appointment day. With January now here, many of our clients do not have the option to visit us during the week as they are back in offices and back to full time working, given that furlough has well and truly ended. For us it is vitally important that we cater to their needs and requests for weekend appointments with their favourite salon.

No

DARREL STARKEY, TAYLOR’S HAIR STUDIO

Over the last 18 months, there has definitely been a shift in appointment requests and patterns, with many clients opting to visit during the week at different times.

The increase in demand has meant many of us have worked every hour possible to bring our businesses back to strength, putting in countless extra days and hours in order to clear the backlog of clients who have patiently waited to visit the salon and to help with the finances which were non-existent during the pandemic.

As a salon owner, a stylist and an individual I know how exhausting it can be to keep all the plates spinning. With this in mind Taylor’s Hair Studio has begun closing every other Saturday.

“With home working, weekday appointments have become more popular”

As well as being a salon owner, I also freelance and assist on photographic shoots, attend industry events and also have my family to think about too. Within the salon, we still have the demand for Saturday slots, yet weekday appointment requests have become much more popular. This is down to many of our clients working at home, changing careers and having the flexibility to visit at an alternative time. Likewise, many of our clients have explained that they like a weekend of relaxing, simply doing nothing and having everything completed during the week. For us, this means we now have the flexibility to close every other Saturday and have a weekend off, so we can unwind too.