New hairstyle regimes, remote work, inflation… French people are going to hairdressers less and less. More than 600 of them have already gone bankrupt since the beginning of the year.
Assume your white hair, embrace its natural texture, reduce chemical treatments… French women’s hair routine has been turned upside down in recent years, following the Covid-19 pandemic. Between those who have embraced the “sebum treatment” trend and cut back on their shampoo frequency, those who advocate more natural grooming rituals, or those who have decided to let their gray roots grow out, women have been rethinking their grooming routines. to style and style their hair. Overall, they now go to the hairdresser less often, according to attendance figures from Christophe Doré, president of the National Union of Hairdressing Companies (Unec), which counts just four visits a year for women (compared to six for men).
In particular, the expert points to the effects of inflation and the new habits that have been picked up by incarceration and remote work. An observation shared by Carol Quach, a hairdresser for over 18 years. In her small salon with a pink storefront near the Place de la Nation in Paris, she notices a “change in strategy” from her regulars. “For example, I have a client who used to come in every two to three weeks for a color change, today she changed her hair to go back to her natural white, so she doesn’t have to come in as often anymore,” she says. He told AFP.
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“Historical Peak of Failures”
After successive arrests that forced them to close, then the increase in the price of energy and the decline in purchasing power, the hair salons have not been free of difficulties for three years. So much so that the number of these bankrupt institutions has increased dramatically since the beginning of the year. Between January 1 and June 30, 602 liquidation, receivership and protection cases were initiated in commercial courts, according to business data firm Altares. An increase of 49% compared to the same period in 2022 and even 181% compared to 2021 is not excluded until the end of 2023, he revealed to AFP. In twenty-five years, this symbolic milestone was exceeded only once, in 2015.
There are a large number of hairdressing establishments that have been established, but perhaps they are too many
Christophe Doré, President of Unec
However, Christoph Dore sees “nothing alarming” but rather “regulation” of the industry. “A large number of barbershops have been created since Covid, but perhaps there are too many of them,” he analyzed. Then these places of beauty, which some missed so much during the epidemic, invaded at the dawn of the restriction. Today, France has more than 100,000 of them (including home hairdressing companies), up from 85,000 five years ago, according to Unec. “It is not by multiplying the shows that we will be able to share the cake better,” adds its president.
Smaller salons were more affected
Customers of big classic brands and high-end salons have nothing to do with gray hair, because they are not the most affected. According to Thierry Millon, the most vulnerable establishments are “independent, small salons with less than three employees in total” located in medium-sized cities or megacities. “Not particularly rich, not with very large margins,” these salons suffer from local competition, particularly from the big chains, and find themselves “unable to withstand long-term challenges,” he explained to AFP.
Beauty institutes also suffer from a similar situation, but to a lesser extent, according to Altares. Among these institutions, 389 outages were recorded in the first half of the year, which is 30 percent more than in the same period of 2022.
Source: Le Figaro
