Overall revenues for all salon industry services (hair, skin, nails) plus salon retail grew only 2%, per the new 2017 Professional Salon Industry Haircare Study from Professional Consultants & Resources, the leading salon industry consultants and premier data source. Total U.S. salon services and salon retail sales grew by 2% to $63 billion. Nearly 257,000 salons and barbershops in the United States use and sell salon hair care products. However, the salon count declined by 5%, as many traditional, commission-based salons closed, and beautiful, large, new salon suites opened. The study features highly detailed illustrative graphs and charts, making data user-friendly.

“The state of our salon industry is weak and in a very low growth mode, due to multiple factors,” says Cyrus Bulsara, president of Professional Consultants & Resources. “The salon suites tsunami has resulted in salon retail moving to Ulta, Amazon, online sales and mass-retail diversion sales. Haircolor in salons has slowed, due to high costs and lower salon visit frequencies, plus a growing number of women embracing their natural gray, silver or white. Many women opted for cheaper cuts at family-economy chains like Great Clips andstyled their hair at home. More men went to Sport Clips and sports-themed barbershops. Family-economy salons grew robustly.Sales of haircolor, shampoos, conditioners, hair sprays, hair styling products and specialty products all increased, but at much lower rates. Major M&A activity at Coty and Henkel created down-stocking and realignments. With the U.S. economy trending up, future growth is expected. New, high- performance care products; new haircolor lines; large, swanky salon suites; and new management at top manufacturers will drive sales.”

 Haircoloring remains a vital anchor service at U.S. salons, attracting clients for all other services like cuts, styles, perms and straighteners. Haircoloring services grew only 2.6%, primarily from Boomers needing gray-coverage and young adults’ demands for fashion haircolor like blonding, highlights, baby-lights, balayage, sombrés and shadow roots. Vibrants, vivids and pastels slowed. Keratin straightening services grew slightly. Cutting and styling grew at a low 2.3%, as client visit frequencies decreased, and more heads were done at lower prices at family-economy chains and rentals. Blow-Dry Bars grew very strongly at a rate of 25% in both revenues and number of locations.

Major highlights ofthe study include:

• Men’s haircolor grew strongly. The study offers a detailed analysis of men’s salon services and product sales.

• Traditional salons and mall chains continued to close, giving way to family-economy chains and salon suites, plus high-end barbershops. This huge, dynamic market trend is quantified and analyzed in detail. Detailed salon counts for every chain are included.

• At top distributors, Beauty Systems Group/CosmoProf sales grew 1.7%; L’Oréal’s SalonCentric grew 3% due to Redken and partner brands.

• Sally Beauty store sales were flat, due, in part, to adverse weather events, like hurricanes and floods, in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.

• Chic independent salons, plus A and B class rentals, drove full-service sales at CosmoProf, SalonCentric and other distributor stores.

• Salon suites like Sola, Salon Plaza, Salon Lofts, Salon Republic, Solera, Phenix, Salons by JC and Salon Concepts continued to grow rapidly.

• Sales at Regis are finally stabilizing, as they divested and franchised nearly 858 mall-based salons and reconfigured the SmartStyle value brand.

• Great Clips registered 4.5% growth and Sport Clips grew 10.2%. Both family-economy chains took market share from traditional salons.

• Salon retail haircare grew primarily due to products for haircolor protection, and new types of oils, hair/scalp masks and treatments.

• Styling product sales increased by mid-single digits, as clients continued home hairstyling with newer, more efficient styling tools.

• Specialty products, including oils and those for hair thinning and loss, shine and thermal protection, grew at mid-single digits.

• Sales of shampoos and conditioners grew at very low single-digits. Women are shampooing less often and using cheaper mass brands.

• At Ulta, salon product sales grew at about 15% due to very aggressive promotions and special offers with deep discounts.

• Redken and John Paul Mitchell Systems were the only two major companies with mid-single-digit growth, due to solid new launches.

• Direct sales at Wella, Aveda and Bumble grew at lower rates.

• Market shares are detailed for every company, with L’Oréal Professional, Coty Professional and John Paul Mitchell Systems, respectively, ranked as the top three manufacturers. Henkel vaulted into fourth place with Schwarzkopf, Sexy Hair, Kenra, Alterna and Pravana. (The company acquired Joico and Zotos from Shiseido at the end of 2017.) Estée Lauder with Aveda and Bumble ranks next. Unilever (TIGI and Alberto-Culver), Revlon Professional (American Crew/Roux) and KAO (Goldwell/KMS) followed. Luxury Brand Partners, Keune Haircosmetics North America and Kevin Murphy all achieved double-digit growth.

New study sections detail cut, color and style trends; data analysis of barbershops and men’s services/products; ingredient issues; leading manufacturers’ reps; plus, sales data for AG Hair, Aloxxi, Alterna, Bio Ionic, Brazilian Blowout, Cadiveau, Peter Coppolla Beauty, Phyto Davines, IT&LY, Framesi, GK Hair, Kenra Professional, Keratin Complex, Keune, Marcia Teixeira, Phyto, Scruples and others.

For purchasing info/questions, visit ProConsultants.us