At Mark Allen Salon, Bellevue, WA
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The salon is as trendy as any West Hollywood salon and a busy site, in an otherwise slow weekend for Seattle area salons and spas. Mark has an involvement in a number of time-consuming projects, including the Mark Allen Salon and Spa, the Spa Siam product line and a software company Siboom. We noted that Mark is also booked solid as a hairdresser. The salon is located on a curving tree-lined street south of Bellevue Square and is in a free-standing building surrounded by modern apartment buildings. The receptionists are young and good-looking with great demeanors and terrific hair. Mark came bouncing in to the reception area with a happy client in arm.
Mark Jackson is a man in motion and did the interview with a radiant smile that kept the process humming along. He clearly had much to talk about and enjoyed the process. Capelli d'Oro: What is the background on the Spa Siam line of salon products and how did you get involved?
Mark Jackson: The Spa Siam products are manufactured in Bangkok, Thailand. We discovered this great line two and a half years ago and, through hard work and perseverance, we are successful. The next season, we will introduce our styling line and - in the third quarter - we will bring out our color line.
C: We used some of the products you gave us at the Fashion Focus show and were surprised at how good they were. Usually, spa lines have the worst shampoos and conditioners.
MJ: All of our shampoos and conditioners are made with essential oils, are 100% organ and are made by persons who put healing and comfort above all other considerations. Our products are rich in anti oxidants, such as lemongrass and red tea and are designed to suppress the formation of free radicals in skin and hair
C: Besides the emphasis on healthy skin, what is the main strength of the Spa Siam line of products?
MJ: Our products are luxurious treatments which replenish skin and hair. There isn't a forty-year old woman who does not want her twenty-year old skin and head of hair back. Our line helps restore balance to skin and hair and restore a youthful appearance.
C: I always apologize to new clients by explaining to them that I am limited in my skills as a hairdresser: I can only make them look twenty-three and drop dead gorgeous. I have had no complaints.
MJ: (laughs) Spa Siam includes many components which aid in restoring youthful skin and hair. You and I both witnessed to consolidation into the big distribution houses of many established products and know the first thing the new owners do is take the good ingredients, or flavors, out of a line and serve up vanilla. This trend devalues the products to the point that they no longer work. The big distributors have bought out a lot of independent lines and they call all the shots.
C: You are not the only person to state this trend.
MJ: The only way they can differentiate themselves is to continually reinvent themselves with imagery. We are not doing that. We have a product line that works a certain way and we are successful with it.
C: The lines all look and act alike, after a slight difference in marketing.
MJ: Salons see that clearly and no longer want twenty different lines that act exactly the same. When is the last time you went to a drugstore and saw the big lines all over the place? We give salons a distinctive line that solves a customer concern and we, by focusing on this, help salons grow their business. If a client uses a product and it does not make their skin and hair feel and look radiant, you lose a customer. We both lose a customer and, eventually, we are both gone. With the increasing amount of hair color salons now do, that expectation increases. All our products assist in the polish and life of color treatments. We are never going to market a color enhancing line, because natural healthy products do that by their nature.
C: Why would you put that on top of a line: doesn't the line do that already?
MJ: That's essentially right.
C: What markets are you reaching? What is the extent of your distribution?
MJ: We are based on the east and west coasts and moving into the center through smaller distribution houses. We are well pleased with our growth. This way of growing lets us have a personal relationship with the salons which carry our products. The top end salons in all markets and those salons most concerned with client comfort carry our line and those are the salons which are most enjoyable to work with. They have a more intimate relationship with their clients and carry products with which clients can build personal feelings towards.
C: You are coming into the market right when salons and clients want independent retail lines that listen to them and take the time to get to know them.
MJ: There is also the 500 pound gorilla: diversion. Do distributorships and large chains divert? This is not for me to say but there is a real economic reason why diversion occurs: to support slack sales. It happens to us, from time to time, but we send buyers out to clear the shelves of diverted products. Its weird, but after we buy out a drugstore, we get emails to our website asking where they can get the products, now that they are no longer available at the drugstore.
C: Now that the line is established in many markets, what is new for your company?
MJ: We are expanding our Lemongrass and Red Tea collections.
C: Your salon, Mark Allen, is on a street that is bordered by Bellevue Park and would be comfortable in West Hollywood or any trendy LA neighborhood. How do you maintain this beautiful salon with all your other responsibilities?
MJ: If you look at the best salons in the areas you just mentioned, you see right away that their success is not dependant upon one person. The appearance and focus of this salon is a result of the efforts of great people.
C: You yourself have a large amount of energy and focus. I bet you had a little to do with it.
MJ: Our front desk crew, to mention a part of our staff, are well appreciated by the clients who come here. The hairdressers are a colorful group and everybody helps with the Spa Siam effort. We bring people into the business through our apprentice program, which takes about a year. We have a person who just passed her New York state boards with us. A lot of new staff began at the front desk, to learn the needs of the clients and capture the culture of Mark Allen.
C: We were going to ask you some questions about the salon management software you market, but wish to do that at another time, to give the discussion justice.
MJ: That would be great. The software is point of sale and salon management and is called Siboom and I would be happy to share it with you.
C: One quick question: does it have any telephony ability?
MJ: Yep, IP phones and credit card capture. It is a full suite of management solutions created to fit the exact needs of a salon or group of salons.
C: Besides hairdressing, I have a current interest in technology, so an introduction to this software would be great. We should close this interview now: I have taken up all the time you have. I want to thank you for an interesting and will speak to you soon.
MJ: A pleasure to see you and I look forward to that.
Visit Mark Allen Salon and Spa's Website at http://markallensalon.com Interview By Edward Paul of Capelli d'Oro ©2009 |
We interviewed Mark Jackson in a facial room in his tony Bellevue salon and spa.
Before we went to a side spa room for the interview, Mark managed to greet two more clients of the salon, by name, and touch base with a young male receptionist with the most amazing rocker pile of black curly hair this writer has seen outside of the Lenny Kravitz band.