One would think that the number of hair salons popping up in Grahamstown would be a sign of a good economy, but Chelsea MacLachlan discovers that fierce competition in the industry has made 2012 one of the worst years yet salons specialising in African hair.
One would think that the number of hair salons popping up in Grahamstown would be a sign of a good economy, but Chelsea MacLachlan discovers that fierce competition in the industry has made 2012 one of the worst years yet salons specialising in African hair.
It seems like there is a hair salon on every street corner in Grahamstown. With 14 that I could count on Beaufort Street alone, the ratio of hair salons to potential customers must be staggering. Some suggest this concentration of salons is due to the large local Ghanaian population.
“Ghanaians mostly do salon business because it is what they are good at,” said Alfred O’ Mensah, owner of First Joyce Hair Salon. As to why Ghanaians come to Grahamstown in the first place, Mensah could only suggest that, “they come here because there are other Ghanaians here.”
Mensah said it was easy to start his salon as he didn’t need to register the business or have a South African ID in order to open up his shop. This is true of most salons and makes hairdressing a quick and easy way to make some cash.
But this ease has begun to make competition stiff and lately merely staying in business seems to be an achievement. In recent years salons have regularly gone out of business, but according to Mensah, there is always another one springing up to take its place.
Wedged between two other Ghanaian hair salons on Beaufort Street, First Joyce seems to have beaten those odds: this family business has been operating since 2009. But with such fierce competition how much money can be made? First Joyce’s average monthly turnover is R5 000.
It employs four people and its biggest single expense is rent at R2 150. Next door is African Ladies which averages R9 000 a month but employs only two hair stylists. Wages appear to be determined at random: Mensah splits the earnings evenly with his family.
Mabuti Beyi, one of the two hairdressers at the more lucrative African Ladies, takes home R700 a month. Interestingly, despite their proximity to one another these two Ghanaian hair dressers are not rivals and do not poach each other’s customers: “Customers are loyal to one salon,” said Beyi, a hairdresser at African Ladies. “Once you have a customer, you have them for life.”
The loyalty of customers and the unwillingness of salons to ‘poach’ have been important factors in Grahamstown’s salon industry. On the other hand the first salon for African hair in Grahamstown, Leoni’s Hair Salon, opened 1989 and is now well established.
The South African owner, Leoni Kennedy, explained that her road was made easier by her connections and training in white salons. “I was able to provide the first weaves to Grahamstown women,” she said proudly.
And customers like Priscilla Kobus have repaid her by being loyal. Kobus told Grocott's Mail that she first had her hair done at Leoni’s 25 years ago. And with the territory of being the longest-standing African hair salon in town, the financial returns are higher.
With only three staff employed, Leoni’s makes between R19 000 and R22 000 a month, Kennedy said. Curiously other businesses do not see Leoni’s as a threat. It appears that the established salons in town have co-habited by feeding off of their loyal customer bases while allowing the others to have a slice of the pie.
But this equilibrium is threatened by the newer salons like Princess Beauty, which is repeatedly referred to as being fierce competitors for customers and a major threat to the business of the older salons. When I visited Princess Beauty, the hustle and bustle was remarkable.
Over the heads of seven snipping hairdressers, Prince, the owner, hollered a hello. Once I got to asking a few questions however, I was quickly told to leave. “Everybody likes Prince and he is cheap, so it is impossible to get new customers,” said Beyi. “2012 has been a difficult year,” agreed Mensah. “I would definitely say our business is declining.”
Even the steadfast Leoni’s Hair Salon has been feeling the pinch. “2012 has been hard with all the new salons popping up,” Kennedy said. “Even though all my customers keep coming to me, I am struggling to get new customers because there are too many hair salons in Grahamstown.”
Upstarts like Princess Beauty are undercutting the established salons and changing the way that these businesses have been run in the past. With such a small pool of potential clients it seems likely that the 'live and let live' way of doing business will, in the months ahead, give way to something far more cut-throat.
