Take this time of challenge and adversity and turn it into a time to refresh and recharge your store, and impress your loyal clients now salons have re-opened.
The exterior and interior design of your fit-out is an aspect of your business that is key to both attracting new customers into your salon, and making them feel comfortable to stay.
If your salon is located in an area where you are lucky enough to have foot traffic, then the appearance of your store from the exterior should be considered an opportunity to attract new customers; a marketing opportunity. Make the most of that opportunity.
If it has been some time since you evaluated and reviewed your shop exterior, look at it from the perspective of a new customer; review what really needs an upgrade. Ask others, get opinions, do your research, and enlist the help of an expert.
To aid you in this process, this article takes you through the most commonly utilised and most cost effective methods that we regularly implement as a business to refresh all types of commercial fit-outs, including salons.
Beginning with your salon’s exterior, lets delve into the top tips that will really help you re-open your store with impact:
First, review your exterior/frontage, and ask the following questions:
- Does your store stand out from surrounding businesses?
- Do you have fresh, current, stand-out signage
and branding? - Is your signage positioned in the best location? Can
you be seen from all directions? - Does your store look appealing to your target market?
If ‘no’ was your answer to any of the above, here are our recommendations on how you can improve your frontage, make it look fresh and enticing to new customers and give you maximum standout:
Repaint your façade.
Consider your store as a marketing opportunity – you want it to get noticed. If your store has had the same façade, colour or finish for 5+ years, then its probably time for a refresh. By simply changing the colour of your façade, selecting a great stand-out, on-brand colour, you are guaranteed to be noticed by new customers passing by. The key really is in selecting a colour that will get you noticed. The great news is that the cost to repaint a façade is minimal, but impactful.
Consider strong brands such as JB-HI FI, Officeworks, Bunnings etc… all these brands have powerful brand colours connected with their stores and their stores are instantly recognisable via colour. Consider the power of colour association with your brand, and how it can be helpful in getting your store noticed. The colour you select will need to be aligned with your branding, but you really can create a noticeable and memorable façade, simply by refreshing it in a new colour.
New signage (and branding)
Sometimes, brand logo designs can become outdated and in need of a refresh – and what better time for
a re-start than now. New and exciting branding goes hand-in-hand with a store refresh and with opening your salon in style. By refreshing your façade, your branding, and your signage, you will have a new and exciting look to potential customers.
In addition to this, consider where your signage is positioned. Are you making the most of all vantage points? What direction does your main foot (or road) traffic come from? Do you have signage facing all possible directions? If you only have façade signage, consider adding a blade sign or an A-frame sign to your shopfront.
If you have street frontage, it is a free branding opportunity. Why not make the most of it?!
Remove clutter – including handwritten promotions and posters
It may seem obvious, but so many stores do this – sticking handwritten promos all over their windows. It really can look very cheap and untidy. We recommend avoiding this at all costs. Promos are great, but there are so many better ways to get the message to clients than handwriting or printing on A4 paper. Get your promos professionally designed and printed, and have a dedicated promo method. For example – an off-the-shelf interchangeable poster frame (can also be illuminated).
Now that we have covered your frontage, you now also need to consider your interior. Right now, it is even more imperative, to ensure your customer feels comfortable, and at home within your store. Here are our suggestions for reviewing and evaluating your customers in-store experience:
- How recently did you upgrade your fit-out?
- Are your walls, joinery, counter, and furniture in
good condition? - Is your lighting evenly illuminated – in colour
& brightness - Do any aspects of your fit-out look tired? Consider
flooring, walls, graphics, feature lighting and joinery
Refresh your interior
Repaint walls (especially any feature walls)
As with the exterior – repainting internal walls is the most cost-effective way to refresh. It is usually feature walls that look the most dated – so if you have a feature wall that has been the same colour for quite some time, now is the time to refresh it with a new look. You may not need to repaint your entire interior – just key elements, this can be quick, impactful, and cost-effective.
It is important when you refresh that you consider on-trend and on-brand colours. If your selecting colours yourself – research on current trends. Right now, our suggestion would be to go for warm, earthy tones – there is currently a strong trend for natural colour toned interiors. In addition to this, ensure your interior colour selection works cohesively with your own branding. By refreshing your salon with a new colour palette, it will instantly feel fresher, and more current.
New graphics
Great graphics are essential for powerful and effective branding. A strong, branded feature wall is a great addition to any interior fit-out. Typical locations for feature walls are – the rear wall in your salon, or behind the sales counter. Generally, a feature wall will include your brand logo & your brand colour.
In addition to strong branding, you can also get creative with graphics on your salon walls. You can engage a graphic designer to create a custom feature mural or pattern on your internal walls. Any graphics need to work cohesively with your interior design & branding. It can be promotional, with branding or messaging integrated, or it can simply be a feature to create interest on your store walls.
When designing salons, we often find there are walls that require something to ‘fill’ them – rather than having a blank (rather, boring) space. Graphics are a great way to create interest, a memorable fit-out and impact. The huge bonus with fresh graphics, is they really are quite cost-effective to produce & install.
New wall décor
In addition to utilising graphics to fill those empty walls, there are other ways you can do this. Look at sourcing off the shelf items to create interest. For example, display shelves, artwork, wall lights, or wall planters.
Whatever you select, its all about how you install it. Generally, do not just install one item – duplicate it to create a feature. For example – install multiple wall lights along a wall or create a dedicated feature area with wall planters.
New wall décor is a really quick, simple and cost- effective way to refresh and re-open your salon in style.
Retreat/refresh joinery
Sometimes joinery items can get quite tired, worn, outdated – but if it’s a custom item, such as a sales counter, cabinetry or benches – you may not want to expend the funds to replace these items completely – in which case, you can retreat it!
This can be with a repaint, re-clad, or re-laminate. By replacing countertops or door fronts only or replacing outdated handles with new.
New furniture and feature light fittings
Furniture and feature lighting within your space are often focal points of your fit-out. Ensure they do not look tired and dated – they are so simple to upgrade and refresh.
If you do not already have some beautiful pendant lights over your sales counter – this could be a quick, simple and great addition for a quick refresh. If you do have feature lighting, but it looks tired – keep it cost effective by switching over your old fittings with new ones, in the same location. By keeping lights in the same location, it avoids the need to repatch & paint your ceiling.
Ensure your waiting area furniture is looking fresh, as it is the first thing you customers see upon entering your store.
Replace or reglobe lighting throughout
This one is often overlooked, but it does make the difference between a cheap-looking salon and a high- quality one. Ensure the colour of all your ceiling lights is the same throughout, in addition to this – make sure any globes that are not functioning, are replaced. If your lighting is quite old – you may want to consider switching out your fittings for new LEDs, which are more cost-effective to run.
In summary, to refreshing your salon in style – it may not be by completely overhauling your frontage and interior, but by implementing just some of the key elements we have outlined in this article, as is applicable to your interior.
When reviewing the priorities for refurbishing any salon interior, we always look for ways to invest funds where it will have maximum impact. Update elements of your fit-out that are most outdated – and work through the priorities according to your budget, doing what you can within your means.
During these challenging times, and the current climate, as business owners, we need to be on the front foot. For salons, it is ensuring your frontage & interior looks amazing, fresh, and draws in new customers. Your store is a marketing opportunity – ensure you make the most of it.
This article first appeared in the August issue of Professional Beauty magazine. Download the issue here.
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