About once per month, I pay $30 for a haircut.
Me, the guy who started cutting his own hair in high school, now pays $30 to have his hair trimmed by someone else. Again, me, the one guy who would prefer to guzzle most household cleaning agents rather than have a total stranger touch his head, pays $30 to have his receding hairline artfully disguised.
What gives?
I now go to a place called Roosters in the Shops at West End in St. Louis Park. It’s not some hoity-toity salon, either. Rather, Roosters specialize in serving a male clientele. This much is apparent when you walk in and notice the half-dozen high-definition televisions tuned into ESPN; the leather chairs in the waiting area where there sits a pile of magazines, including Sports Illustrated, MAXIM, GQ, Esquire and the like in front of a fireplace; a fridge full of soft drinks and no stagnant smell of perm or baked hair. Ron Swanson would have his hair cut at Roosters.
For the record, $30 gets you a 45-minute treatment that includes:
I have no data to prove it, but I know my preferred stylist stays extremely busy and I would imagine Roosters does, as well. Anecdotally, it seems as though specializing in serving just one gender has proven a savvy business strategy. A profitable niche has been scratched. It’s really no different than Curves, the national chain of health and fitness clubs exclusively for women.
As a marketer, it makes me wonder where else the gender-specific proposition might work. I mean, let’s be honest, there are places where male or female consumers often feel out of their element. Roosters recognized the opportunity and doubled down.
So, I ask you, all-powerful consumer: In which other types of business and industry would you like to see gender-specific establishments emerge?