In low-slung suburban strip malls, nestled among fast-food restaurants and auto supply stores, hair salons are sprouting like mushrooms.
The Census Bureau recently noted their jump in an otherwise glum report about mom-and-pop businesses, stating that the number of hairdressers and barbers and the shops they work in grew by about 8 percent from 2008 to 2009, one of the few industries to register growth in a tough economic climate.
It seems that getting a haircut is one expense that consumers are reluctant to give up. And people who run salons never have to fret that their work might be outsourced. “We don’t have to worry about someone flying to China to get their hair cut,†said Charles Kirkpatrick, director of the National Association of Barber Boards of America. “Barbering is not going away.â€
Photo by MarkyBon.