of standard practices, each customer is greeted with
a specific handshake and consultations are done at a
specific angle--facing the customer from the front rather
than in the mirror from behind. The most noticeable
difference is the salon’s layout. Rather than the typical
open layout of a salon, 18|8 uses partially private
booths. The client stays in the booth for the entirety of
the appointment and everything from the shampoo to
the cut is done in the same chair. It’s the ultimate for
all in one experiences. Not only does it serve the get
in and out mentality but it also serves a very different
purpose. Although men are becoming more fashionable
and are getting more into the idea of grooming, many
still have some insecurities about the process. Having
the separate stations allows them to be able to more
fully relax and to actually unwind and enjoy whatever
treatments they may be getting.
Men’s interests aside, one of the biggest draws we
found to 18|8 was the corporate culture; Love and
Griffith hold their salon professionals in extremely high
regard. When developing the corporate culture, the team
took a hard look at what stylists wanted and how the
team could help them achieve it. Their methods have
paid off; they have an extremely high staff retention
rate, even newer branches boast very little staff turn
over. We wanted to know what Love traced that back
to; he noted that in particular the freedom they are able
to provide their staff with, and the room for growth they
give them, have been particularly positive points for
their employees.
“Stylists want autonomy. They come into this
industry understanding that if they’re successful
there’s a certain amount of freedom they will have in
comparison to a 9-5 job.” Love continued that they had
found out that most stylists wanted to become masters
of their craft and they wanted to continue growing, “We
wanted our stylists to get way above an hourly rate and
earn commission, that’s what we want. We show our
staff how to do it and how quickly they can follow the
system. It works!”
A definite plus to the system that 18|8 creates is the
opportunity for a very high profit margin. “We love that
we’re able to have them generate this type of income; it’s
fantastic! I’m a hairdresser, hairdressers are important
to me. Having people be successful in our company is a
huge gratification for me personally. We get to see them
buying houses, they’re driving nice cars, they’re living
a fantastic lifestyle. Most people, unfortunately, in our
industry are not experiencing that, and we’re able to
create that career path for them.”
18|8 Cleans Up the Men of Annapolis
After chatting with Love, we headed east to the
Annapolis branch to get a first hand look at the salon.
There are two locations currently in Maryland with two
more locations in the works and plans for more in the
near future. We met with Kevin Lancos, the owner of
the Annapolis locat ion, to learn more about what made
him choose 18|8 and what it’s like behind the scenes.
Lancos had worked in business for 25+ years and knew
“little to nothing” about the workings of a hair salon.
However, the option of a franchise was brought up to
55