The tenant-landlord dynamic has always been a challenging one that holds back the ability to thrive. Young talent find themselves without the tools and skills they need to run as a business. Alicia, as the owner of Chignon, introduced a new business model, allowing for professional freedom, balanced with the support to foster growth, education and expression.
Stylists create their own schedule, manage their personal finances and clientele, without the traditional hassles of renting a suite or station. Add to that, we alleviate the worry for stylists sourcing their own color and products.
Rather than pay a rental fee upfront, stylists pay either a percentage of their revenue to the salon or a flat monthly fee, whichever is lower. That way, stylists can concentrate on growing their client list and expertise without worrying about rent and fees.
Despite it’s popularity, the standard practice of renting booths to stylists has created more animosity than independence. The tenant-landlord arrangement prohibits the salon from growth and thus thwarts its ability to foster talent and be a space in which creatives can thrive. Worse yet, young talent found themselves in the dark, without the tools and skills they need to run themselves as a business.
It was through that dark that Chignon salon founder Alicia Dubois realized an opportunity to illuminate the hair care industry.
With an innovative new business model, the stylist’s need for professional freedom could be balanced with support and non-intrusive mentorship, allowing the salon to become a collective work space that fostered growth, education and expression.
Product Support: Stylists have exclusive access to the best products from world-renowned brands such as Oribe, Kerstase, Obliphica along with eco conscious plant based products
Access to education: Continual opportunities to learn and grow, including trips to other parts of the country to train under master stylists and industry tastemakers, as well as in-salon classes monthly
Structure; Ample access to seasoned professionals and resources to help them manage their personal business
Being part of a caring team; working alongside other independent stylists that encourage and inspire each other every day
Salons typically house stylists in one of two ways: the stylist pays a rental fee for their booth, then operates all their personal finances, taxes, and product use alone. From there sprang the trend of ‘suite’ salons, in which stylists rent a private suite, but are then deprived of everyday essentials including walk-in customers, support staff, exposure, and much more. Managing these issues while trying to balance a full book of clients and continue to improve as a stylist is nearly impossible, except for truly established professionals with a long-standing base of loyal clients.
On the opposite spectrum is the boss-employee arrangement in which stylists are paid an hourly rate and split a commission of their services with the salon. In both cases, stylists and salon owners found themselves in disagreement, not able to connect through what brought them together in the first place, which is helping each other offer their best to customers.
The Independent Collective is a business relationship that gives the best of both worlds to the stylists: the freedom to run their own business without the traditional hassles of renting a suite or station.
Do you:
If so, please email your resume and cover letter to info@chignonsalon.com
