American Male puts the 'man' in manicure
He's getting a manicure or hand detailing, as the salon calls it and it's a pampering the 24-year-old information technology manager has learned to enjoy.
"My girlfriend notices it," said Wooke during a recent visit to an American Male salon for nail grooming sans polish. "I try to come in every two weeks."
American Male which is opening its 15th salon, in Las Vegas, in February is one of a growing number of salons devoted to men who want more than just a barbershop haircut but don't feel comfortable sitting in women's beauty salons and wouldn't be caught dead entering a froufrou day spa.
The salons are catering to an apparently growing interest by men in grooming. Sales of men's skin care products sold through department stores rose 13 percent last year, more than double the growth for the women's market, according to NPD Group, a marketing research firm in Port Washington, N.Y.
Retail sales in the U.S. men's grooming market are expected to reach $10 billion by 2008, up 25 percent from last year, according to Packaged Facts, a unit of MarketResearch.com in New York.
From the decor to the terminology they use, men's salons are seeking to put some distance between themselves and beauty salons.
Some have strong sports themes, including TVs tuned to sports channels. Some offer free beer. And at least one lets clients light up cigars. Prices for haircuts, waxing, manicures, pedicures, facials, shaving and massages start at about $20 and go up from there.
"Men don't really like going to salons. They don't like being with women in there, and they don't like the smell of the salons," said Howard Hafetz, chief executive of Raylon Corp., American Male Salons' parent company. "They don't want to look across the aisle and see their buddy's wife over there."
Raylon, based in Reading, 50 miles northwest of Philadelphia, now operates or licenses salons in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, California, Illinois, Oklahoma and Colorado.
Other chains catering to men's grooming include Miami-based The Art of Shaving, which has eight locations in four states and is opening 10 more by the end of 2006; Sport Clips of Georgetown, Texas, with 300 franchised locations; and Roosters Men's Grooming Centers of Round Rock, Texas, with 13 salons open and five more under construction.
"Men are getting more vain," said Marian Salzman, author of "The Future of Men" and director of strategic content at ad agency JWT in New York. "There's more pressure to look young and sexy. Even young boys are waxing their bodies to be hairless."
Comments
- Odd Fellows Hall move 6:13 p.m.
- Man charged in child sexual assault 5:43 p.m.
- Jazz in back of line for free agents 5:36 p.m.
- Dining out: Ruth's Diner 5:04 p.m.
- Tactfully bring up plastic surgery 5:04 p.m.
- Malden's craft made good movies 5:04 p.m.
- Megan Joy looks forward to Utah 5:04 p.m.
- Movie listings 5:04 p.m.
- Box office 5:04 p.m.
- Weekend calendar 5:04 p.m.
- Blazers may offer Millsap a contract
- Utah's top 10: Wealth of recreation
- MWC, WAC rushed into BCS
- Restaurant burns in 3-alarm fire
- O'Connor unhappy Fes not with team
- Send Boozer to the Bulls?
- Keeping golf light on the wallet
- Teen injured in fall from waterfall
- Fatigued Jazz no match for Pacers
- River flow marks birth of sanctuary
- Bronco collecting a galaxy of recruits
138 - Letters: Palin mistreated
136 - Teachers struggle with district cuts
134 - Blazers may offer Millsap a contract
118 - 'Tea party' protesters unhappy
107 - Fairness of BCS debated
81 - Stadium of Fire lights up the 4th
79 - Chaffetz eyes challenging Bennett
72 - Millsap not franchise player
70 - Services bids farewell to Jackson
70
Through the years, I've always raised eyebrows whenever I tell people...
The night was balmy though buggy at SPOC, the Stansbury Park Observatory...
Lute | 4:48 p.m. July 9, 2009 I am glad you took notice again. I am a...
They served decent food but now they can rebuild and it will automatically be...
"Sounds like a good idea, wonder why they wouldn't do it." Er...ah......
Why not just tactfully say, "Edna, you don't look a day over 85."? Edna...
koc must do this trade
"More greed for more entitlements!" It was conservatives believing war was an...
If you support these criminals, you also support burglars, child molesters,...
Perhaps you could have said "why Marylyn, the unnatural stretching of skin...
Anonymous | 11:48 a.m You can't always wait for government. Sometimes you...
Problem is: Jazz dont learn! They will repeat the same mistake time after...




You can be the first to comment on this story.