On or around August 8, 2014, a new African American operated hair salon called Applause! Hair Design opens up four entrances from my hair salon storefront which has been operational for ten years in the shopping center. It is a husband/wife team that runs it and neither one has a license to provide hair services. So they are completely dependent on keeping a staff of hairstylists very happy despite the fact that some are new to the shopping center, some are new to the Huntersville area, and some may even be less than a year out of cosmetology school.
So because they opened the salon on our block which is not known for foot traffic, they have aggressively solicited as many people as they could by handing out fliers/flyers focused in our block even to the point of knocking on my clients' car windows to give them a flyer/flier while they are listening to a webinar.
As you can see by the fliers/flyers above, I have started collecting a few of the fliers/flyers from my clients.
My clients really do not want to be confrontational. They feel that it is easier to take the flier/flyer and toss it in the trash.
I have had at least one of their hairstylists run down my clients to give them fliers/flyers. Of course, I have repeatedly told the owners that the soliciting on our block is really a conflict of interest. I understand that they are new, and that they don't know who is my client or not.
But the fact remains that my salon is almost double the size of their salon, and I have three stations available for booth rent. Did this strip with low foot traffic really need another Black owned hair salon that is half my salon size? Not sure, but they shoved six small styling stations, three shampoo bowls, dryers, sitting area, desk and storage area into the salon, and according to their Facebook page, they are the "hottest salon in Huntersville."
Pictured above is their "hottest salon in Huntersville" Facebook entry.
I was even told by a local beauty store that the new salon owners came in for a few items, and they were quite aggressive about letting everyone in the store know about their new salon, and they were even willing to recruit the store cashier to work in their salon. Apparently, the world centers around Applause Hair Design, and they have no respect for ethical business practices. At least, my salon has not been the only one to witness the aggression.
The term "free enterprise" has come up, but most styling studios ask that salons do not solicit within their facility or their block because if all of the salons solicit at the same time, people would feel harassed.
From day one, I have only asked Applause! Hair Design to discontinue aggressive solicitation on our block. It was a simple request, but the female owner would not agree. She does not want me in her salon. She has written a long letter to our Board that had me startled because some of the statements was so far from the truth that I had to read it twice and slowly. I am amazed at this "all time low" that Applause Hair Design has stooped too.
On August 8, 2014, many of the local media publications such as the Charlotte Observer, the Citizen, the Herald all announced the grand opening of the Applause! Hair Design location. The event started on a Friday around noon. So in the middle of our medical business area, a moon bounce is set up and cones are put out to block street traffic which prevented my clients from parking in front of my salon. Of course, eventually, the police came out to move the cones that was blocking traffic. Also, the moon bounce was also taken down shortly thereafter. I am not sure if they had received town permission to block the street off.
It looked like a block party for part of the day with "Peanut, Ray Ray, and Pookie." I had never seen anything like it in all my ten years of being on the block.
Oh yes, I almost forgot that they informed me that if I paid them $50 to $75 that my clients could have some of their hamburgers and hot dogs as a part of their celebration. I opted out of donating since it was looking to be a complete waste of my money.
All of my efforts to get along seems to be met with them describing me as "harassing" according to one of the emails that the female owner sent to our Board. So my question to Applause! Hair Design is this: if I was harassing them, maybe a series of police reports should have been filed so that we could all be aware of each harassing incident. Why did they open up shop practically next to my salon anyway? Did they just want to feed off my clientele?
The fact remains that they have NOT been in business for sixty days yet, and they certainly are not focused on co-existing with my salon. It is such a shame that our hair industry is subjected to such pettiness and disrespect. I have tried discussing my frustrations with them as two/three adults, but they have severed that tie.
