For salons, every day is a good hair day
| Stylists of black hair are coining it but, downmarket, hair-care consumers are counting their cents
AT the end of each month in inner-city Johannesburg, hair extensions are in demand.
Women file in and out of a building on the corner of Eloff and Plein streets to get imported Brazilian, Peruvian and Malaysian hair extensions.
“We sell them at below the stock value,” said one of the consultants, who did not want to be named, showing a price list that ranges from R1 500 to R4 200. The price depended on the length of the hair extension.
“I take stock of how much we make every day, but I don’t have monthly figures — I would have to go and calculate.”
But her makeshift logbook shows that on a good day she can make up to R9 000.
The $700-million (about R9.79 billion) global black hair industry is one of the fastest-growing markets in South Africa, yet its participants remain mum on their market share.
According to a report by Diagonal Reports in 2011, the black salon market was worth R6.3 billion in 2010, while the white market was worth just more than half of that, R3.4-billion.
By last year, the estimated market value of black hair salons collectively stood at R10.9 billion, compared with R6-billion for white hair salons.
Candi & Co, a franchise salon under the umbrella of beauty and spa chain Sorbet Group, is fast realising the potential value of black hair.
Candi & Co MD Candice Thurston said the black hair industry was “a lucrative business but also very competitive with many complexities”.
Candi & Co employs more than 60 people, in four franchise stores in Gauteng.
With national retail sales across industries declining, informal market players have had an impact on the hair extension segment.
Thurston said the hair extension industry was unregulated and consumers needed education on price versus quality. “Lower-priced weaves entered the market before the high-quality hair, so you now find that women want to buy higher quality hair extensions and are willing to invest.
“It’s unfortunate that lots of suppliers and traders sell lowerquality hair extensions at higher prices because consumers don’t know how to test the quality,” said Thurston.
But the state of the economy means consumers are looking for cheaper hair-care brands.
In March last year, Clicks launched its own range of products for black hair called Afri True. Although it would not give sales figures for its black hair products, the group’s retail health and beauty sales, including The Body Shop, GNC and Claire’s, rose by 14.1% in the six months ended February 29, despite the economic downturn.
Hair-care products as a subsegment had the worst annual performance across the overall beauty and personal care category last year, growing at 6%, according to a report by Euromonitor International.
Category sales for the year were hit hard by economic uncertainty, as consumers opted for lower-priced alternatives such as bar soap.
“There is a strong tradition of washing with bar soap in South Africa and many consumers viewed this as a fairly easy way to economise,” the report said.
Rubab Abodolla, beauty analyst at Euromonitor International, said the market value for hair-care products in 2014, the latest available period, was estimated at R5.6-billion. “If the economic climate persists, with disposable income declining, we would expect hair care to show marginal growth, if any at all.”
Given market uncertainty, formal market player Unilever, which has its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, may have decided to sell its Motions hair-care business late last year to US-based Strength of Nature, for an undisclosed amount.
Black hair brands including Motions, Just For Me, Consort, and Groom and Clean were all absorbed into Strength of Nature, which has brands such as African Pride, Soft and Beautiful and Dream Kids.
Gareth Marshall, senior brand manager for hair at Unilever South Africa, said the market had slowed in the short term. Unilever’s range of haircare brands, such as TRE-Semmé, Dove and Organics, catered for all hair types, he said.
US-based Procter & Gamble serves black consumers with various ranges under its Head & Shoulders, Aussie and Pantene brands. Lesego Charlie, beauty communications manager for P&G in sub-Saharan Africa, said: “We are affected, like all businesses, but are strong in our commitment to serve Africa’s consumers for the long term.”
In September 2015 Clicks launched its own range of products for black hair