The Barber Shop Group Press Articles
Karen Waldron was featured in an interesting article on the BBC website on 10 January 2020 about why women pay more for a shorter haircut.
Offering equality for women in terms of pricing and ‘no appointments necessary’ service were some of the reasons behind setting up the unisex chain Cut.UK.
By Roz Tappenden & Linda Serck
© BBC. Read the original article here.
Karen Waldron was featured in a double page spread in the April-June 2017 edition of Modern Barber magazine where she talked about the founding of The Barber Shop Group and her philosophy.
Please click on the images to see larger versions.
Karen Waldron, founder of The Barber Shop Group, was presented with the “Barbershop Business Leader of the Year” at the Barber Awards 2016 ceremony held at Barber Connect on 26 June 2016.
Karen said she felt very honoured and humbled to be recognised by the industry in this way.
Barbers make a high street comeback as men go retro and abandon salons
Neat hair is back – one reason why 150 men’s hairdressers have opened in Britain in the past year.
The return of the short back and sides as the must-have hairstyle for fashion-conscious teens and twentysomethings is having a helpful impact on the country’s beleaguered high streets: more barber shops sprang up last year than any kind of business other than charity shops.
While bookshops, technology retailers and music stores all suffered, barbers have bucked the economic downturn. More than 150 new shops opened in the UK last year, a 6.24% rise, according to figures from the Local Data Company (LDC). Fashion is a key explanation of the leap in numbers, particularly the popularity of retro 1920s and 1950s cuts with short or shaved back and sides and a styled top that require regular return visits to keep in shape.
There’s the “ivy league” – a classic short cut, which can be smooth on top or “textured”, as worn by Arsenal footballer Aaron Ramsey and Twilight star Robert Pattinson. Or the “varsity” side parting – trimmed at the sides and back and groomed on top. A shorter version of the 1950s quiff – David Beckham’s latest look – is also hugely popular. Or for a rather more radical look there’s the “fusey” cut – shaved sides and long on top – favoured by Joey Essex from the TV soap The Only Way Is Essex.
Film stars and footballers – like Beckham, Gareth Bale, Xabi Alonso and Theo Walcott – are the big style icons. “Whatever Beckham has, people follow him,” says Paul Taylor of Taylor Taylor barbers in Sheffield, which was set up by his grandfather in 1927. He says the latest trends demand greater use of clippers and shaving equipment that can only be found at a barber’s. “Guys recognise it’s a skilful profession quite different from a women’s hairdresser’s,” says Taylor.
Mike Taylor, director of the British Barbers Association, says: “Men are looking after themselves a lot more and have finally realised that the barber is the best person to cut their hair, not a hairdresser.” He says the male grooming industry as a whole grew by 3% last year – not bad during a recession.
Karen Waldron, the owner of Berkhamsted-based the Barber Shop Group, which has 12 shops, says barbers are booming during the economic downturn as men look for a cheaper option than the unisex salons they might have used in the past. “They don’t want to go to Toni & Guy, it’s too expensive,” she says. On the other hand, men are more willing to spend money on pampering themselves, with rising demand for hot-towel shaves and waxing.
Another driver behind the barber boom is economics. As other retailers close down, barbers are able to get rent-free or low-rent deals on small shops in a way that wouldn’t have been possible before the financial crash. “Lots of people don’t want these little shop units, which are an ideal size for barbers,” says Matthew Hopkinson of LDC.
As a result the number of barbers on high streets and in shopping centres has grown by 8%, while growth on local shopping parades is slower and the number of barbers in out-of-town retail parks has fallen.
With no requirement for a licence or qualifications, it is relatively cheap, quick and easy to set up mirrors, chairs and clippers, making a barber shop an attractive option for those who find themselves out of work or looking to start their own business. The BBA has been trying to improve standards and introduce a licensing system to prevent untrained barbers from opening up and undercutting established businesses. It says new rivals are a cause of concern for barbers who have invested in years of training and investment.
Waldron, who set up her own business 31 years ago after becoming one of the first female barbers trained in a traditional shop when she was 16, says her salons have faced increasing competition as some of her own staff have left to set up their own businesses nearby. Aylesbury, for example, now has eight barbers. “They’re all people I’ve trained,” she says. “Everybody thinks it’s a quick buck, but in many cases they have just saturated a town.”
Fierce competition keeps prices down. Philip Ashia of Active Barbers in Tooting, south London, says he has seen more than five barbers open up nearby in the last year alone and business has been tricky as customers try out new rivals.
His afro shop is something of a local social club, as shown in the YouTube hit Smokey’s Barbers. He stays open until late and has created an atmosphere that keeps people coming back. “Lots of guys just come to hang out, but they often end up having their hair cut,” he says.
By Sarah Butler
© The Guardian. Read the original article here.
An upmarket chain of barbers is gearing up for a stock market flotation in three years. The 14-strong chain, called The Barbershops, had the chance to expand rapidly 18 months ago to 100 salons through a franchise agreement, but decided against it.
Proprietor Karen Waldron decided she wanted to retain total control to preserve the standards she and her staff have achieved. She is now aiming for 30-50 branches.
She is currently negotiating for a lease in Fulham Road, south-west London.
A branch opened in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, earlier this month and another in Watford, Hertfordshire, in October. Waldron is also in talks about acquiring a salon at Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.
“We are locating sites. That is the only thing that is slowing me down. It is difficult finding good, main road sites” she said.
Waldron’s story is one of rags to riches after an unhappy childhood spent in a children’s home. She started barbering aged 16 before opening her first olde worlde ‘American Victorian’ style salon in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, in 1982 aged 21.
Each branch has a trademark talking African Grey parrot. Willie at Watford is partial to expletives and making derogatory comments on haircuts.
By Andrew Don
Former teenage scissor novice owns Europe’s top male hairdressing salon
Karen Waldron-Smith begun her journey into men’s hairdressing when, as a wide eyed 17-year-old, she walked into a gents’ barbers in Oxford telling the Italian owner she could cut men’s hair and was looking for work.
Hired and plunged into the male dominated arena of barbering she was forced to learn the skill from scratch, but 25 years later her hard work and dedication has seen her become the owner of the largest chain of barbers in Europe.
The Barber Shop Group chains can be spotted all over South Bucks including Amersham, Chalfont St Peter, Chesham, Gerrards Cross and Great Missenden as well as locations north of the county, and in Berkshire, Hertfordshire, and Oxfordshire.
Run and staffed entirely by woman Karen cornered a market which had not been tapped into before and has reaped the benefits ever since, with the company celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. “She said: “The barbers took me on probably because I was blonde and female, and then I just learnt how to cut hair from them.
“There were, of course a few mistakes in the first few haircuts, some scrapes and bald patches, but after that I picked it up. It was a completely male dominated industry at that point. There were unisex salons opening up but people started…
“I had to be really good at what I did because it was alright getting the men in but they would only obviously come back if it was a good service.”
While working in the first shop in the chain, in Wendover, Karen had to bring her pet macaw parrot Sam to the barbers, a move which inadvertently became hugely popular and generated wide press coverage.
The parrot has now become the firm’s official mascot and macaws can be seen in a number of the other salons.
She said: “The parrot was my pet and because I was in the shop all the time he had to come in with me and the customers loved it.
He learned to talk a bit as well, which all added to the appeal. “This all would never have seemed possible when I first started out. I never did it to make money; I did it because I have a huge passion for barbering.”
By Greg Burns
Barber Shop launches new products
A Bucks based hairdressing chain that has just celebrated its silver anniversary is now gearing up for the next quarter century of cuts. Barber Shop founder Karen Waldron-Smith, pictured, opened her first shop in Wendover in 1982, and has since expanded the business to run 16 establishments across the area, making it among the largest group of gentlemen’s salons in Europe.
Mrs Waldron-Smith said: “Back then not only was it completely rare to have females in barbers, let alone own one. I also had a blue and gold macaw in my shop which became my mascot.”
The bird became a unique element of the corporate image Mrs Waldron-Smith created for the company, which now keeps Macaws in several of its shops, and has its head office on Chesham.
Mrs Waldron-Smith started her career at 17, in a traditional men’s barbershop in Oxford and said she was keen to provide a friendly, personal environment for men who wanted a relaxing haircut away from the world of unisex salons.
Mrs Waldron-Smith hoped that other people would be inspired by her success story. She said: “There has never been one ounce of male help. I’ve never had a business partner and never will, and came from nothing to the amazing life I have now. I’ve done it all completely single handed.”
The chain is using the milestone to launch a new range of haircare products, personally designed by Mrs Smith and her team.
A salon chain that boasts a parrot in every branch is helping to raise the image of barbering.
Karen Waldron, proprietor of The Barber Shops, which numbers seven branches, hopes to take on another three salons over the next two years.
Ms Waldron, who opened her first ‘American Victorian’ style salon aged 22 in Wendover, launched her seventh outlet three months ago in Aylesbury, also in Buckinghamshire.
She hopes to open an eighth, possibly by the end of the year.
“I worked in a spit and sawdust barber when I was 17 and learned the trade from the old boys and Italians and realised there was a gap in the market,” she said.
The olde worlde salons feature big gold mirrors, black and white prints on the walls, wooden effect flooring, and ceiling fans.
Ms Waldron installed her pet macaw, Sam, in the first shop and the moved proved so popular, each new barber shop now has its own bird.
She has trained all 35 staff personally and there is no pecking order.
A 17-year-old can earn as much as older staff.
High-flying hairdresser Karen Waldron has opened another barber-shop with an extra feathery feature – a parrot.
Customers at The Barber’s Shop, Station Approach, Great Missenden, will find their usual chatter at the Victorian style salon interrupted by squawks from seven year old employee Sam, the resident bird.
Mrs Waldron now has three parrots, one at each of her men’s barber-shops.
Joe the parrot works at Wendover and Max is familiar to customers at the Chesham branch. The idea seems to have been far from bird-brained for the proprietor, who thinks the success of the talkative trio is cut and dried.
“They are so popular,” said Mrs Waldron, 30, of North Mill Road, Bledlow. “Customers don’t mind Sam at all. He often squawks at them and the children feed him nuts.
“My home at Christmas is like an aviary because I have to look after all three.”
The barber-shops are also unusual in employing women to cut men’s hair.
Don’t be surprised if you suddenly find yourself transported into the Scottish Highlands when you walk into one of Karen Waldron’s barber shops.
For Karen who is opening her seventh shop next week, says the key to her success has been hiring staff from Scotland.
She employs nine female Scottish barbers, as well as two Welsh ones, out of a staff of 27. Only two were born and bred in High Wycombe.
All four girls employed in Karen’s Crendon Street shop, High Wycombe, which opened in December, are Scottish.
“Because I have so many shops, I can’t basically hire from Buckinghamshire alone. I put adverts all over the North,” says Karen, 34 from Bedlow.
Her salons, called The Barber Shops, are also distinctive for each having a resident cockatoo or macaw perched in a prominent place.
She says a lot of these birds speak in Scottish accents, imitating the staff. “Sam in Marlow used to say hello in a nice English accent and he now says hello like a Scotsman.”
Karen initially puts her Highland girls up in a flat she owns in Great Missenden.
She has recruited staff from places such as Sunderland and Liverpool – but Glasgow seems to be the most popular. She says the Scottish barbers are loyal workers, with great personalities, who tend to stay a long time in her employment.
“The key to my success has been taking girls from the North because they’re brilliant workers.”
She added, “They like coming down to England. It gives them more opportunity. There`s not so many jobs in Glasgow.”
Karen who started her chain in 1984 in Wendover, and also has shops in Great Missenden, Chesham, Marlow and Berkhamsted, is due to open her seventh shop in Aylesbury on Monday.
Alison Cochran, 25, came to work for Karen from Glasgow four years ago after answering an advert in her local paper. She had been a hairdresser for four years. “I was bored with my last job and I always wanted to work out of Scotland, so I tried it and liked it,” she said.
Alison, who currently works in the new Crendon Street shop, says she had never even heard of High Wycombe before moving from Scotland.
She lives in Chesham and goes back to Scotland four times a year. But she now regards Buckinghamshire as her home.
By Steve Cohen
At the age of 30, Karen Waldron owns three barbershops. She has her sights set on a chain of at least 10 shops – and she is determined to become a millionairess.
Karen has such charisma, her staff adore her, and her up-market snazzy gents’ hairdressing salons are coining it in.
You can’t have failed to notice them. Styled on American old colonial lines by her designer husband, Michael, they exude masculine ambience.
“No frills or fuss,” says Karen. “Men don’t feel comfortable in unisex salons and they are fed up with the old-fashioned barber’s where they just get a boring old short back and sides.”
Not least among the attractions at Karen’s establishments are the gorgeous girl barbers who she says, as well as thoroughly knowing their job, must have loads of cheek!
A very different kind of bird also features in each of her shops… a real-live parrot. It all started when Karen put her pet, Sam, into her first shop in Wendover and “it caught on,” she laughs.
But Karen’s success has been no overnight phenomenon. She spend five years at a barbers in Oxford, learning the trade.
Launching her first shop needed enterprise and courage, for she had to borrow heavily to raise the cash. Now she is enjoying the fruits of her labours. She and Michael live in a large house at Bledlow Ridge with Stables, their horses and dogs.
Karen has yet another challenge: her 13 month-old son, Ben. But she is coping, “I have a nanny,” she says, “and these days, I don’t do much actual hair cutting. There is too much for me to do on the management side.”
This glamorous lady, with her impeccably-styled blonde hair and power-dressing, is still very much in the forefront of her business: “My aim is to get so many shops I can franchise them,” she says.
Her only fear is that someone will copy her shops. “You can’t patent an idea,” she says.
By Marian Matthews