Men’s grooming club ’a great place to unwind,’
As the pampered male settles in, John Allan’s Grooming Club offers soothing and manly beauty services on a subscription-basis
Most men hesitate before climbing into a black leather chair for a shampoo at John Allan’s, a men’s grooming salon half-hidden in the recesses of the Hudson’s Bay at Yonge and Queen Sts.
But drawn into the half-hour grooming process by the promise of a beer, nearly every single chap settles in nicely by the end of the appointment, at least according to staff who have seen it happen many times.
It’s the experience of being looked after that brings the men back as much as the need for grooming, says manager Kelly Lovelock. “I think it’s a little bit of both, to be honest,” she says. “I don’t think they’re used to being pampered. We’re just trying to get them used to it, and (used to) looking after themselves.”
John Allan’s touts itself as the only men’s grooming club that works on a membership system. It’s for men who have converted to the pampering experience enough to commit to a full year’s worth of it.
For $850 annually, members can come back to the grey-and-black space on the men’s fashion floor, for unlimited pit stops to make sure they’re tip-top. That might sound like a lot of money, but with high-end salons charging $60 and up per haircut — and if we keep in mind that plenty of men need their hair cut once a month or more — the fee is more competitive than it might sound.
In case there’s any doubt that men like to be pampered as much as women consider that John Allan’s has filled its membership books with at least 700 fellows in the five years since it opened its Toronto outpost (the head office is in New York).
Men’s grooming is still a niche market, but spots where men can get manicures, haircuts and a shave are sprouting up.
“What I like about coming here is that I think every once in a while, if you’re a busy guy, you need a place to relax.”
WARD ANDERSON
TALK RADIO CO-HOST
Already, the non-subscriptionbased Mankind has three locations in Toronto, while the elegant stalwart Truefitt & Hill keeps its scissors busy in the Financial District. And for take-away products, Men Essentials on Danforth Ave. caters specifically to men’s whims and whiskers.
While it does offer other services à la carte, such as straight razor shave, beard trim and sports pedicures, John Allan’s model is primarily built around a 30-minute grooming regimen included in the membership fee. It starts with a scalp massage and shampoo, proceeds to a steamy hot towel break, and then on to a haircut and manicure.
For dessert, you get a shoe shine, a feature best enjoyed if you are shod in your slickest brogues.
Lovelock says most members come in every two to four weeks. Men with harder-to-maintain hair styles, such as a fade, plunk down into the leather chairs as often as once a week.
If the whole shebang sounds as quick as a Formula One car getting worked on by a pit crew, the actual effect is soothing. Thirty minutes feels like a long time when there’s nothing to do but sit there and be worked on.
“What I like about coming here is that I think every once in a while, if you’re a busy guy, you need a place to relax,” says Ward Anderson, a member and the co-host of the SiriusXM talk radio show Ward and Al. “If you’ve got an hour of your day and you also need a haircut, it’s a good way to unwind.”