Susan Casale was already the owner of one successful Beehive Beauty salon in Duxbury, MA when she decided to take the plunge and open another location in the same community earlier this year. “A lot of people asked me why I wanted to open a second salon in the same town and the answer is simple,” says Casale. “First, we’d outgrown our current space, and second, we wanted to add services such as skincare and Botox and have the ability to market new business with a blowout bar.”
Casale got her second Beehive Beauty establishment up and running in what she describes as one of the most up-and-coming areas of the coastal town. The 1,000-square-foot new space boasts five styling stations, three shampoo sinks and a skincare/treatment room. To give it a modern, urban vibe with neutral tones and textures, Casale worked with Leslie McGwire & Associates for the floor planning and Michele Pelafas Interiors for the furniture. The team outfitted the space with Karndean luxury vinyl flooring planks that provide a bit of cushion and soften the acoustic challenges that come with 14-foot-high ceilings. Casale was fortunate to have lots of natural light in the salon and was mindful that she should keep the spa lighting color temperature to 3500 Kelvin. “The tone is neutral without sitting in the rose gold spectrum, but also does not seem to ash-out our warm-toned haircolor clients,” she says.
Casale paid the same attention to detail when creating service offerings and staffing the new space. “As a stylist who works behind the chair, I know how important it is to provide growth opportunities to existing stylists, which is why I offered full-time positions and brought in a junior stylist to work directly with them,” says Casale. On the service side, everything the salon provides is meant to feel like a collaboration. “Our foundation for haircutting is Sassoon-based so the team is able to speak the same language to each other and with the clients,” she says. “That’s important.”
To keep her business on clients’ radar, Casale partnered with a social media expert, and she’s amping up customer service. “We’re located in a small town, so word-of-mouth travels fast, which puts the pressure on us to provide the best experience at all times,” says Casale. “Although our industry is starting to explore reception-free front desks, we find it’s very important to our clients to have a point-person, aside from their stylist, who can help meet their needs. Our operations and customer relations manager, Matt, is instrumental to our success. He allows me to wear all the other hats I need to operate my business and still create behind the chair, which is my passion.”