Earlier this spring Tracy Featherling got a text from a client. Desperate times during physical distancing meant the client was cutting her son’s hair, and her son wasn’t happy about it.
“I want Tracy!” he says in the video.
Featherling says she hasn’t seen too many horrible ‘Covid Cuts,’ but the last month at The Station Salon has been busy.
“June was really intense, but we’re slowly getting back to normal,” Featherling says. “I’ve had quite a few clients sit down in my chair and say ‘Please don’t be mad at me, I had to dye my roots,’ but I would never make anyone feel bad. We were all in the same challenging situation and we had to make the best of it.”
Featherling says quite a few of her clients are coming into the salon with a new attitude, ready to let their greys grow in, change their style or grow their hair out.
“People are really embracing their natural beauty,” she says. “There’s a shift in the air. It feels like a whole new year.”
No ‘Covid fees’
Through the spring Featherling offered curbside pickup of the salon’s quality products, which helped her clients maintain their hair’s health at the same time as it boosted her business’s bottom line.
“Most of my clients now realize that good quality shampoo and conditioner will perform better and last longer than a $4 bottle. Their hair reacts better and is easier to maintain. When you get in there with an inexpensive waxy product, that’s when your hair starts misbehaving.”
The Station Salon has invested in plastic dividers and other safety equipment to keep staff and clients healthy, but Featherling has opted not to charge a ‘Covid fee.’
“I just wasn’t comfortable with that. Everyone’s been going through a hard time. It’s hard to to charge a client an extra five bucks when they may not have worked for the last nine weeks,” she says.
Welcoming clients back into the salon has felt like a family reunion, as stylists and clients get to share news of the spring. Featherling feels happy to be back behind the chair, and has also clarified her vision for the salon.
“I’ve become more aware of how things can change in a minute, but it makes me realize — with all of this — me and the girls in The Station Collective — we get to create our salon environment. We’ve always been client-focused, and I want to make sure that the clients we welcome are on the same page so we all feel comfortable.”
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