The Geneseo community welcomed a franchise of Great Clips hair salon into the Genesee Valley Plaza on Thursday March 19 with a private ribbon cutting ceremony and an official grand opening on Saturday March 21. It will join several other salons services in town, such as Main Street’s Image Empire Salon and Envy Salon and Spa.
Great Clips franchise owner Sean Flint expressed excitement at expanding his business into Geneseo. He owns two additional salons in Brighton and Gates in the greater Rochester area.
“The plaza is a terrific place to open a salon,” he said. “Wegmans brings in a lot of traffic from a widespread area, not just locally in Geneseo. It provides year-round business.”
The characteristics of a college town appealed to Flint as well, where the students represent much of the business success throughout Geneseo.
As for community involvement, Flint explained that he prides himself in keeping his salon staffed with stylists from Livingston County.
“It’s a joy to have local people come in and see stylists they know or who have done their hair before,” he said.
Up and running with this staff of local stylists, the business at Great Clips has been steady throughout the week––Flint noted that the Geneseo location superseded his other salons with the best four-to-five-day start.
Great Clips has now become one of the multiple hair salons already situated in town.
Image Empire Salon owner Angel Berry said that she likes the variety of hair services available.
“There are salons that feel comfortable to some, but uncomfortable to others,” she said. “They fit people differently, so having more than one actually benefits the community.”
Berry added that she prefers to look at her fellow hairdressers as business peers rather than competitors.
“At times, there have been six salons open right here on Main Street, but that has never affected my usual business,” she said. Subsequently, Berry explained that she finds no reason to worry about the opening of Great Clips.
“There are plenty of customers to go around,” she said.
Envy Salon and Spa manager Pat Mendoza had a similar take on the array of hair services.
“Hair styling is an industry and with that, you have to have many options and avenues,” she said. “There are so many different types of people looking for different things. Great Clips will be great for families and convenience. At Envy, we like to offer a salon experience that combines the convenience of a walk-in to the styling expertise seen in big cities.”
Flint emphasized his personal belief that competition is inevitable, but he will face it regardless of the type of markets in which he opens a business.
“Every salon has specific attributes,” he said. “Great Clips is unique in that we like to provide a great overall experience beyond just a haircut, from when the costumer walks in to when they walk out.”
“We all cater to a different type of person,” Mendoza said. “I think that’s why all the salons in one town work. We can be comrades. A little healthy competition is good—it ultimately benefits the client.”