Dear Fixer:
My mom bought multiple gift certificates from Maurice Alan Salon and Day Spa, which she gave as gifts to my sisters and me and other relatives. At Christmas alone she spent at least $500.
My sister recently tried to set up an appointment. She couldn’t get through by telephone - the message said the mailbox was full - so she drove over there, and it was completely empty. I know of at least five gift certificates that my mom bought that were never used.
Hair no more….
Regis to close 160 salons in effort to shave operating costs
Edina MN-based Regis Corp. said Wednesday it will close about 160 underperforming salons in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom in the next six months as it tries to cut costs. Four of the stores will be in Minnesota, though a company official declined to offer specific locations.
The stores make up less than 2 percent of the chain’s 8,500 company-owned salons, which operate under the names Regis Salons, MasterCuts, Cost Cutters, Supercuts and Trade Secret, among others.
The closings come in addition to the 200 or so low-performers that Regis typically shuts down each year when leases run out, Regis CEO Paul Finkelstein said. The company said it would offer employees jobs in nearby salons.
“Every store that opens isn’t a home run,” said Stan Pohmer, a Twin Cities retail consultant. “At some point you have to identify your chances of turning them around. … It’s just good business management to go in and cut out the low-hanging fruit that’s sucking all your resources out. It’s not something that hints at problems endemic with the company.”
Regis expects to shutter 100 stores at regional malls, 40 at strip malls and 20 in the United Kingdom. About a third of the closings will come from the struggling Trade Secret stores, the rest from a “myriad of brands,” Finkelstein said. Many of the stores were located in malls that were struggling or in strip centers that had lost major tenants.
None of the 2,178 SmartStyle salons that operate in Wal-Mart SuperCenters will be closed, Finkelstein said.
Regis expects to record a pretax charge of $20 million to $25 million to close the stores before the end of their lease terms, a cost Finkelstein said will ultimately boost profits by reducing the drain on time and resources.
Regis said it will write down $4.5 million, or 6 to 7 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, which ended June 30. The remainder of the charges will be recorded in the first half of the fiscal year.
Shares on Wednesday closed at $26.81, down almost 2 percent, in a day most of the market’s major indexes closed down by a similar amount.
Regis has spent the past 18 months focusing on internal efforts to reduce costs, including consolidating contracts for janitorial services and office supply vendors and reducing the number of small parcel posts.
Combined with price increases across nearly 6,000 locations, Finkelstein said, the measures helped boost third-quarter net income.
Meanwhile, Regis is pushing forward with new concepts despite cutting its new-store construction in half as consumers make fewer visits to the salon for haircuts, products and other services.
On Aug. 8, Regis plans to open what Finkelstein describes as a “quality, high-end barbershop” called Raze, located off of Hwy. 62 and Shady Oak Road in Minnetonka. Haircuts will run $25 to $30, and come complete with hot towels, Internet access, bottled water and other amenities.
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Send a free e-card to your spa gift card recipient.
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Big Sur spas, including Ventana Inn & Spa, Esalen and Post Ranch Inn, have closed due to wildfires moving into the Big Sur area.
July 7, 2008, BIG SUR, CA - At 8:00 a.m. Wednesday July 2 the management of Ventana Inn & Spa was contacted by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department with a mandatory evacuation notice. Currently, Highway One is closed from Palo Colorado to Lucia. The entire community of Big Sur has been evacuated and is closed until further notice.
The 1,400 residents of Big Sur have also been ordered to leave their homes. About 65,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest have burned in the last two weeks as part of the Basin Complex Fire.
Ventana Inn & Spa, which is undergoing an $18 million renovation, provided relocation assistance and physical room to room search was performed to ensure all guests had evacuated. General Manager Jonathan Farrington has indicated that Ventana Inn & Spa, Cielo Restaurant and Allegria Spa will remain closed until further notice. Esalen has cancelled all programs through July 13.
Former spa workers to get back wages
ALBANY - The state labor department has issued more than $22,000 in violations against the owners of a Latham spa that closed without warning.
All nine employees at Beaux Visages, formerly located in Latham Farms, will be paid wages owed to them.
The spa closed abruptly Feb. 29 when owner Alan Jones claimed he ran out of money.
Any employee who is owed back wages and has questions can call the Labor Department at 1-800-447-3992.
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