The Most Exciting & Busiest Day in BLO/OUT Blow Dry Bar History!

Last Monday was New Years Eve. 2012 was disappearing and 2013 was about to hit. All the preperation, the anxiety, the fear was coming to a head, a beautifully BLO/n head!

BLO/OUT Huntingdon Valley was completely booked from morning to closing. BLO/OUT Rittenhouse was completely booked between noon and closing. Approximately 25 BLO/Litas were preparing for the craziest day they have ever experienced. 

That's exactly what they got!

Both location served hundreds of BLO/OUTs in one day... and everything went smoothly!

No technical difficulties, barely any crazy waits (a few clients waited more than I would ever like anyone to wait, but they totally understood and still loved their BLO/OUTs). Tons of BLO/Me Mosas were drunk, much of it ending up on the floor as well. Beautiful excited ladies all over the place getting ready to party the night away.

It was honestly one of the most awesome days I have ever experienced. So much great feedback, so many smiles, so much beautiful hair. We made it!

We could not have asked for a better welcoming party to Rittenhouse! Our team was awesome! Everyone worked their butts off pulling 12 hour shifts without a break! I could not be more proud of the BLO/OUT BLO/Litas and what we've built! 

It's a new year, let's make this a BLO/OUT year full of beautiful hair, happy clients and top notch customer service! 

Yours,

Avi & The BLO/OUT Family 

FINALLY!! BLO/OUT Rittenhouse is Open! I Need a Vacation!!

It's been months since I had a chance to sit down for a minute and update everyone on what's been going on, sorry!

This morning at 7am our Rittenhouse location opened its doors and let the hordes of BLO/OUT deprived ladies come in and bask in all of its glory! :-)

 
After months of hard labor, stress, physical, mental and emotional breakdowns, it's open! With its large open spaces, super high ceilings, wainscoting, chandelier overload, iPads, BLO/Me Mosas, BLO/Me Ritas, Champagne, Doggie treats, tufted leather, the most awesome reception furniture ever, sky lights, and the coolest feature: the BLO/OUT Roof Top Deck, this place is unreal.

With the backing and support of some affluent Philadelphia investors including Raymond & Megan Giroux BLO/OUT is well on its way to taking over the Philadelphia area! Rittenhouse is open, we're negotiating Washington Square & University City all the while bringing on some of the Philadelphia's finest salon talent!

The past few months have been unreal! I have been working from early morning to early morning every day. I did however get to perfect my painting, caulking, and trim cutting abilities. I love construction and I helped the guys out as much as possible.

The stress of dealing with the current BLO/OUT location, staff (which thankfully has been pretty good due to my assistant manager and team!) , budgets, landlords, licenses, inspections, bills, bills, contractors, plumbers, bills, investors, etc… has been weighing down on me. Thankfully I love what I do, I love who I do it with, and I very much love those who support and motivate me.

So... last night we celebrated Christmas the only way we could, Chinese food, tequila, good friends and family. I had a great buzz going and it was an awesome time. 5am this morning I awoke, spent a few minutes cuddling with the love of my life, then a few more with my other love (my dog Cash), got dressed, walked the dog and headed down to Rittenhouse to open up to the public for the first time. 

The stylists came in early just as I was putting some finishing touches to the door, the music went on, the chatter began and we waited. About 3 hours into our day the phone started ringing, the door opened up and some lovely ladies came in, although they didn't get BLO/n they scheduled some future BLO/OUTs. Then a beautiful young lady came in and became our first Rittenhouse BLO/OUT! Upon completion she purchased a 20 BLO/OUT package! Yup, we're doing something right! 

Friends stopped by bearing gifts, clients called, appointments were made, tweaks and touch ups were done and we're all still working. I have to admit, all the hard work, long days, short nights and pain was worth it. What I built is beautiful to the eye and even more beautiful to the hair. 

Now on to more tweaks more fix ups more touch ups, our next locations and a huge deal in the works that will BLO this industry OUT of the water! 

Stop by when you get a chance and see what I'm talking about!

Yours,

Avi.

BLO/ME OUT & BLO/EM AWAY - Blow Dry @ Home, The Ultimate Luxury!

Coming in to BLO/OUT Blow Dry Bar is a luxurious experience! You first experience the beauty and chic look of BLO/OUT with the expansive white and pink space, the overdose of chandeliers, the bright colors, beautiful sketches on the walls and of course our unique "bar". You immediately get a burst of energy hearing the music playing. If you're in luck you're greeted by the very handsome, super fit and very nice... me. You're offered a drink such as a BLO/ME RITA, a BLO/ME MOSA or something traditional such as coffee or water. 

Your knowledgeable and experienced BLO/lita examines your hair and discusses your needs and wants. You are then led into our vast shampoo room where your BLO/lita shampoos and conditions your hair all the while massaging your scalp using only the finest products. 

Your hair is BLO'n/OUT and styled and you leave BLO/OUT looking like a million bucks while only spending $35! You might have even grabbed some products to use at home and probably an awesome piece of jewelry. You then go on to tell all your friends about us and how much you love us! You might even take a minute to write us an email about how great we are and how you can't wait to come back. It does happen that some of those same beautiful ladies tell their friends that they just came from the most exclusive uber expensive salon :-)

As awesome and luxurious as coming into BLO/OUT is, nothing is better than not having to come in at all while still getting that stunning BLO/OUT in your own home or at your party or wedding!

The lucky ladies that have experienced the BLO/ME OUT (@ home or office) or the BLO/EM AWAY (events, parties, weddings) can't stop praising it!

Going to a salon to have your hair done is cool, having the salon come to you... that's LUXURY!

Our BLO/litas arrive at your home, office or event rocking the signature hot pink tie with blow dryer in hand and all necessary supplies and equipment ready to blow you out! 

Some our clients use the BLO/ME OUT service because they prefer to stay at home. Some because of a time crunch when preparing for an event. Others just prefer the comforts and convenience of having your hair styled without the trek to the BLO/OUT location. Whichever the reason, the service takes BLO/OUTs to a whole new level of luxury!

The BLO/OUT team has had the pleasure of doing weddings, parties, events and individual BLO/OUTs for many beautiful ladies around the Philadelphia area. 

Some of our regular @home clients earned an invite to our exclusive BLO/OUT Gold BLO/STAR membership which provides for reduced pricing, first priority service without an appointment along with complimentary BLO/OUTs and products. 

If you have never experienced the spoiling @home BLO/ME OUT service or our BLO/EM AWAY event services I urge you to give it a try and be privy to real luxury!

Yours,

Avi.

So What Actually Makes a Blow Dry Bar Different Than a Traditional Salon?

So yes, BLO/OUT is a Blow Dry Bar and not a traditional full service salon. What is the difference you wonder? Your salon gives you blow outs, why should you consider checking out BLO/OUT? 

Not being in the hair styling industry has really been an advantage for myself and BLO/OUT when I put the idea together and planned the services, prices and atmosphere. In this post I will break down each of these items and what my thought process is behind each detail. I have learned something new everyday being in the shop (I hate calling it a salon, it's not a salon, it's our shop, our spot, the bar, etc...). 

Let start with services:

The services we offer are exclusive to styling with the addition of convenience, ease, flexibility and obviously client satisfaction. Since we don't take ourselves too seriously, we figured we wouldn't offer any serious services such as cutting or coloring, at least not yet. Everyone cuts, colors, blow dry's, treats, styles, blah blah blah... we took the finishing product and made sure our stylists perfect it. I'm sure our stylists can cut and color as well, and they do at other places, at BLO/OUT I want them to perfect their, well... blow outs. Although it's true that without a proper cut and color your hair might not be at 100% but at any moments notice, you can still walk in to BLO/OUT and walk out feeling and looking like a million bucks!

Even our more serious services are not that serious! Instead of doing a serious Keratin treatment or a Brazilian Blow Out, we chose to go with the less damaging, less serious, shorter lasting Keratin Complex Express. Lasting 4-6 weeks instead of 4-6 months, costing way less than traditional salon prices and available at a moments notice is how we roll. 

I hate the feeling of arrogance and entitlement that you see and feel at a traditional high end salon where waiting is an "honor" and paying ridiculous amounts for a blow out is considered acceptable! That shits cray! I never realized what anxiety felt like until I was under staffed and had a line of clients waiting on a busy saturday. My goal at BLO/OUT is to limit any wait to 10-15 minutes max even though you do not need an appointment! 

Next let's look at our prices:

Our prices are standard in the Blow Dry Bar industry, not so standard in the traditional salon industry. I've seen salons charge close to twice our price for a blow out post a cut that would have been rated "Blah" atBLO/OUT! Our most traditional styles are priced at a flat rate of $35. If clients have unusually long and/or thick hair and require significantly more time to blow out than regularly, they will be made aware that an additional charge is required for future visits (usually $45). Funny thing is that these same clients are already aware of this because they were charged double previously at their salons. 

Now our prices are standard and do not change to often, however coming in with pictures of styles that require up-do's, braids, or serious flat ironing and look nothing like our standard styles means you have to pay for a custom BLO/OUT ($55), if for some reason you believe a traditional salon would provide that same styling for less, please show me! 

I'm totally against any sort of price gauging! My stylists complained that we do not charge enough for wedding services. What makes a bridesmaid or a bride any different than any other client walking into BLO/OUT? Just because everyone else believes it's OK to add a "Wedding Premium" to their prices does not mean I will do it! I plan on getting married one day and I'm not OK with getting ripped off just because it's accepted. So our brides, bridesmaids and family members paid the same $65 for an Up-do as a high school graduate does.

I've heard from some that our prices are too high and they pay $20 for their blow outs. I challenge all that feel that way to a duel of blow outs! Using blow dryers instead of guns, we will hold a judging event with your $20 blow out and our $35 blow out. 

Finally let's discuss our atmosphere:

If you have ever been at BLO/OUT you're more familiar with our atmosphere. Our music plays loudly (usually something upbeat and energetic), our BLO/litas speak freely, cocktails are being sipped on, I recommend styles, compliment great work and curse a whole lot. We play pranks on each other, we have open & honest conversations with our clients and there is not an iota of ignorance, arrogance or entitlement in the air! 

We treat our team and clients like family and satisfaction is always guaranteed! 

One thing we haven't discussed is quality:

Quality is so important to us! We want to make sure every BLO/OUT client is thrilled with their style and is excited to show it off! We have received unbelievable feedback from our clients and we're super proud of our BLO/litas and their awesome talents. 

Word of our quality has gotten far and wide. The Four Seasons Hotel just got in touch with us regarding sending our BLO/litas to style their guests!

Some examples of this are: 

Recently a client got an up-do at BLO/OUT and then went to a local high end salon for make up (we'll call the place "Green"). The makeup artist asked if the client just had their hair done at the salon and when the client responded that she had it done at BLO/OUT the makeup artist was shocked! She was in awe of the up-do and said she heard great things about us! 

Another cool example is a personal one, my beautiful girlfriend who has been very wary of betraying her stylist and never had her hair BLO/n OUT with us finally gave in when she was in a rush to make it to a graduation. She loved the result! When a friend saw pictures of the graduation I received a text asking whether she had her hair done at BLO/OUT. When I confirmed that she did in fact, my friend responded with "I knew it! Her hair looks awesome!". When someone can recognize BLO/OUT quality hair styling, I'm a proud business owner! 

Recently I noticed a client sitting in her chair getting BLO/n, her eyes were closed and she looked like she was thoroughly enjoying the experience. Upon completion and her being flabbergasted at the quality look and feel of her hair, she immediately booked BLO/OUT for her wedding! 

So there you have it, what makes BLO/OUT different. I'm sure there are many more things that differntiate us from the rest but these are the ones that come to mind. 

Yours,

Avi.

Hairspionage - The Stylists & Salon Owners that Spy on Us!

At least once a week someone comes in with more questions than necessary, more prying and more interest than a standard client. It's always funny when you realize the person or people in your place are spying for either their place, their employers, or their "future" business. 

Over the past 2.5 months that we've been open we've had our fair share of spies. Some were really cool, open, honest about their intensions and I was more than courteous providing information, where I got what, how much, etc... Others have been really shady and nosy. 

Last week was really interesting. An older couple came in, the woman first and headed off to get shampoo'd while the man came in after parking the car. As soon as he walked in he told me "This is a nice place, how do you feel about opening one up on the Main Line?" to which I responded "Sure!". The man proceeded to tell me that we can be partners and that he's already got the location. Long story short, it was the strangest thing I've ever seen, the woman left with her hair still wet (by choice of course) and the man gave me a business card and said he'll be in touch. WTF? 
   -- Update: Never heard from the man again, but I do understand they're opening a high-end Men Only salon & spa.  

How about the woman that was standing outside taking pictures prior to coming in for a blo/out. Turns out she owns a salon in the area. Or the woman that called in to "get information" and make an appointment that she later cancelled for a Keratin Express treatment, upon getting her email address I realized who she was and which salon she owns in Philadelphia. 

I totally understand it and I'm pretty cool with it, I have done it and continue to do it as well albeit not as blatantly. My intention is not to compete with every salon in the area, otherwise I would have opened up a full service salon and I'm pretty sure I would have earned clients away from other salons. I support competition and although it does bother me when someone tries to step on my toes, I operate with the belief that if you do something better than anyone else, you deserve to succeed.

I would totally prefer people to just approach me and either ask me openly or inquire about partnerships, I'm partnering up with people all the time! We also take in investors into specific locations whenever we can! For example our Rittenhouse location which is currently in the final stages of completion is still welcoming an investor that can have ownership of that location!

This industry is awesome! There is crazy amounts of potential and when treated like a real business rather than a mom & pop shop, it is very lucrative for all involved.

I'm not looking to leave it anytime soon, so as per the ancient proverb: "Come at me bro". 

Avi.