Take a couple of guys who know nothing about hair, chuck in some rock’n’roll, a little internet access, some video games and apparently you have the recipe for a successful barbershop. Unlikely as it sounds, Floyd’s 99 barbershop, a United States franchise that has just gone global, has opened in Fourways Crossing, Johannesburg.
Floyd’s was started in 2001, in Denver, Colorado, when the O’Brien brothers, Rob, Bill and Paul, took it upon themselves to create a place where guys could go for a haircut that didn’t involve high-end, highly strung stylists or low-end, budget buzz cuts.
Paul O’Brien, out from the US to help with the South African launch, say Floyd’s falls slap bang into that gap in the market and is confident it will do well here. Floyd’s is as much about the experience as it is about the haircut, says O’Brien.
‘We wanted to create an experience. Like, for example, when a dad brings along his kid to have his hair cut, there is something for [the kid] to do while he waits around,†explains O’Brien as he points to the internet terminals in one corner of the newly opened shop. As customers don’t have to pre-book appointments and can just arrive for a cut, they can surf the web or play video games while they wait.
But will the combination of internet café and Carlton Hair work for the South African market? Kevin Mackenzie who, along with business partner Gordon Love, brought Floyd’s 99 to South Africa, is adamant that the brand is novel and relevant enough to become a hit with local guys.
‘It’s universal, it’s iconic and in South Africa there is nothing like this,†says Mackenzie of the new shop, with its walls plastered in posters of music legends.
He says that Floyd’s has been a great way to reinvent the old-school idea of a barbershop and drag it by ‘the scruff of the neck†into 2007.
The response from local men might not be immediate, says Mackenzie. The trick, he thinks, will be to get guys into the store. If this is matched with good service, half the battle will be won. According to Mackenzie, the US stores have steered clear of upmarket locations, aiming for accessible centres — a formula South African branches are likely to follow.
Floyd’s is truly novel in at least one respect. Its stylists don’t survive on the commission they earn. In what is perhaps a world first, salon staff are given a liveable salary and incentives that include medical aid, something many South African employees never see.
Althoug Floyd’s caters mainly to men, woman are welcome and the barber shop includes traditional services that women are likely to take up, such as colour treatments, braiding, bonding and weaving. Services such as these can be booked in advance, says store manager and stylist Alison Herbert.
Mackenzie and Love have secured the regional development rights for Floyd’s 99 and are aiming to open another 15 Floyd’s in the next 15 to 24 months. They forecast employing another 250 or so South Africans and, when they are done here, will be taking the Floyd’s 99 concept on to the United Kingdom and Australia.
