As a Black girl, Piersten Gaines has had her justifiable share of hair salon horror story experiences. For the sake of time, she didn’t get into the small print throughout our interview, however suffice it to say she’ll always remember these instances. That’s why Gaines was past skeptical the primary time she got here throughout the idea of a blowout bar.
“I had by no means actually heard about blowout bars,” Gaines advised Fashionista. She had simply moved to Boston to attend Harvard Enterprise Faculty and was on the hunt for a hairstylist within the space. A couple of feminine upperclassmen beneficial that she take a look at an area blowout bar. “Once I first began Googling and studying about what a blowout bar was, I used to be like, ‘I don’t know if that is for me.’ I used to be trying on the web site and no person regarded like me or had my hair texture.”
Picture: Courtesy of Pressed Roots
Her friends suggested her to request one particular stylist: “A whole lot of the ladies within the 12 months above me have been like, ‘No, you must be sure to ask for this particular lady. For those who go to another person, it may not be a superb scenario. So that you’ve bought to name and ask for her.'”
It took only one go to — with that beneficial stylist — for Gaines to be offered on the blowout bar idea. She not solely clicked with the hair professional she visited; she additionally beloved the general expertise. “I used to be out and in,” she mirrored. “It was actually skilled. It was simply one thing I had by no means actually skilled earlier than, and I’d been going to salons for, at that time, 26 years.” Gaines returned to the blowout bar nearly each week and requested the identical stylist. That’s, till stated stylist moved states.
“So I attempted another person, and it wasn’t nice in any respect,” Gaines stated. No different stylist within the salon had expertise working with textured hair. It was that realization that impressed Gaines to assume, “‘If all people right here may do textured hair, this is able to be such an unimaginable enterprise mannequin as a result of that is such a necessity.'”
So she turned that lightbulb second into actuality: In 2018, the founder launched Pressed Roots, a “silk blowout bar” designed particularly for textured hair. “I actually wished to create an answer for…folks with textured hair to have a nationwide model they may belief no matter whose chair you sat in. I wished to create an area the place you can belief that your hair was in good arms and get an excellent silk press.”
Picture: Courtesy of Pressed Roots
Pressed Roots’ fundamental service is the “signature silk blowout,” the corporate’s model of a silk press, reimagined for the blowout bar mannequin. “We concentrate on getting the hair as straight as attainable throughout that blow-dry course of in order that we will reduce danger for warmth harm,” Gaines defined. “We solely go over it one time with the flat iron. Certainly one of our core buyer guarantees is that we prioritize hair well being.” The signature silk blowout begins at $80, and the salon additionally provides add-on companies together with trims, deep conditioning and steam remedies.
For normal prospects searching for further advantages, Pressed Roots provides tiered membership beginning at $139 per 30 days. “We’ve got a extremely excessive buyer retention fee, with our core prospects coming again twice a month,” Gaines shared.
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However no matter whether or not a consumer is a first-timer or a weekly returning visitor, Pressed Roots prides itself on constant, high quality service. That, in fact, wouldn’t be attainable with out well-trained stylists. The corporate hires solely licensed cosmetologists, and every new rent should full a hands-on coaching program that contains in-depth classes on caring for textured hair.
The curriculum is a mixture of theoretical and sensible coaching: For the previous, trainees find out about hair anatomy, porosity, figuring out hair wants, understanding what merchandise to make use of for various curl varieties and extra. As for the latter, new hires follow what they be taught on model heads. Trainees additionally should grasp the “Pressed Roots Methodology,” a 12-step course of that covers the complete consumer journey, together with greeting, session, shampooing, conditioning, detangling, sectioning, texture prep, blow drying, flat ironing, trimming, styling and farewell.
Picture: Courtesy of Pressed Roots
“If you are able to do textured hair, you possibly can actually do all sorts of hair,” Gaines stated. “The explanation why it’s so robust to seek out hair stylists who work with textured hair is as a result of they don’t actually train about textured hair in cosmetology faculty…We anticipate our crew members to do the Pressed Roots Methodology for each single visitor so our prospects have the very same constant expertise.”
In line with Gaines, Pressed Roots’ core clientele contains a broad vary of individuals: Ladies of all ages and family incomes e book appointments. “Our prospects are actually the complete vary of individuals with textured hair,” she stated.
In Pressed Roots’ first two years, the model operated as a touring pop-up store in cities comparable to Boston, Atlanta and Dallas. The pop-up run was so profitable that Gaines finally opened Pressed Roots’ first standalone location in Dallas in 2020. Two days after opening, the corporate needed to shut briefly due to the pandemic.
Two months later, Pressed Roots reopened — and already had a ready listing. Since almost each salon was shut down on the time, folks have been determined to get their hair executed, Gaines defined. “We reopened actually the day that Texas stated salons may open up once more. We bought fortunate as a result of many salons hadn’t reopened but, and we have been a brand new salon with a gorgeous house, and other people wanted their hair executed. So we had this wait listing principally for the subsequent two years.”
The thrill by no means died down from that preliminary pleasure: Followers constantly overestimated Pressed Roots on social media, posting before-and-after pictures and praising the corporate for its high quality service. Ultimately, the favorable reception and optimistic momentum led Gaines to open two extra places in Dallas and one in Houston.
On Wednesday, the model introduced it will likely be opening its fifth location — and its first on the East Coast — in Washington, D.C. this December. Over the previous few years, Gaines analyzed gross sales knowledge, visitor suggestions, buyer retention charges and workers efficiency to find out whether or not the enterprise was able to broaden past Texas. Up to now, all different places are worthwhile and have regular buyer retention. “The objective has all the time been to be a nationwide model,” she stated. “D.C. made probably the most sense for us as a result of we knew there was a big focus of individuals with textured hair there.”
Picture: Courtesy of Pressed Roots
The brand new house can have an similar structure to the opposite places and can supply the identical companies, memberships and pricing. “We’re actually copying and pasting it,” she added. “[Our setup] shouldn’t be damaged, so we’re not attempting to repair something proper now.”
Getting into a brand-new market and constructing clientele from scratch is daunting for any model founder. Whereas Gaines admitted that the corporate remains to be determining its advertising technique to get the phrase out, considered one of its fundamental approaches is utilizing social media. She additionally hopes Pressed Roots’ revolutionary idea stands out towards different hair-care companies within the space.
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“I actually don’t actually really feel like we now have a direct competitor proper now,” she shared. “While you have a look at the panorama of nationwide salon manufacturers or franchises, you don’t actually see many which might be centered on textured hair…There are a whole lot of actually superb unbiased stylists who can work with textured hair. However what Pressed Roots provides is the comfort of a salon and the promise that you’ll have an incredible expertise.”
Wanting forward, Gaines is worked up to open extra Pressed Roots places throughout the nation. She additionally hopes that the corporate’s success will encourage others to see the worth in investing within the textured hair-care house.
“As extra folks on this trade see that this can be a manner that the textured hair demographic desires to be serviced, I believe there might be extra choices,” Gaines stated. “There’ll be choices which might be simply nearly as good as or higher than Pressed Roots — that’s simply the best way folks innovate. I believe that is nice for textured hair as a result of it’s been an underserved demographic for a very long time. This can push the trade ahead.”
