HAPPY HOUR AT THE COLOR BAR
Entrepreneur Amy Errett is hoping to do for hair color what blowout bars did for the tresses of time-crunched women.
This week, the founder of mobile-first hair color startup Madison Reed unveils the Madison Reed Color Bar within its Mission District headquarters, at 430 Shotwell St. Part salon and store, part retail laboratory, it’s the start of an ambitious plan to open 20 retail locations in the next two years. In August, one will open in New York, where the company began testing with a pop-up in January.
At the Color Bar, customers can get simple hair color in less time and for less money than they would in a traditional salon — think an hour for $60 compared to two hours for $150.
Madison Reed’s sweet spot is customers older than 35, often looking to cover up gray hairs — a “wisdom strip,” as Errett calls it. Root-only permanent color is $60; a 35-minute application of Root Reboot, a new demipermanent product, is $35. The most expensive service is a combo of permanent root color, a gloss treatment and a blowout for $120. Color Bars use only Madison Reed products, which are made without ammonia, parabens, resorcinol, paraphenylenediamine, phthalates or gluten.
“There’s a big difference between $7 color (at home) versus $100 or more at a salon, and there’s an opportunity to fill that gap and build a better product, similar to what Dollar Shave Club did for razors,” said Melody McCloskey, who is the founder of salon-booking service StyleSeat.
McCloskey sees the Color Bar, like Dry Bar, as “fabulous” for filling a void for customers with simple hair color needs, rather than complicated salon services such as highlights or balayage.
“Dry Bar created a new segment to the market: the younger girl who is doing her hair at home and maybe had a fancy blowout a couple times a year, but she will go more often if she is paying $45,” McCloskey said. “This could potentially be very similar.”
There’s also the opportunity for e-tail and brick-and-mortar to augment each other. The Color Bars stand to attract new subscribers to Madison Reed’s membership program by color-matching and showing how to use the product (a onetime order is $24.95).
Errett had the idea for a Color Bar when she pitched the business in 2013 but needed to build a customer base first. The company began shipping its home hair color boxes in July 2014 and has since collected 2.3 million customer profiles.
“There are few entrepreneurs who have the ability to take an industry and completely turn it upside down — Amy Errett is one of them,” said Jeff Crowe, a managing partner at Madison Reed investor Norwest Venture Partners, who sits on its board.
“Before Madison Reed, hair coloring was a monotonous task with limited choices. There was a major need for something different … while also providing an experience that’s both familiar and in line with today's technology advancements.”
Madison Reed communicates with customers
with a chatbot called Madi on text or Facebook Messenger. The bot can color-match, make hair color recommendations and send a link to buy all by analyzing a customer’s selfie.
“Using mobile tech for hair care is especially interesting. Because of all the retail verticals, beauty is really the industry that is ripe for disruption,” said Maya Mikhailov, who is chief marketing officer of mobile commerce platform GPShopper.
“Hair care is a very personal choice, and hair color perhaps more so. You’re taking a leap of faith when you try a new stylist or product, so it’s essential that brands are starting conversations directly with their customers and building trust.”
Expanding into brick-and-mortar has become a theme with digitally native companies, from Rent the Runway and Warby Parker to Amazon. The incentives are clear: Mine online insights to tailor the in-person offerings while attracting new customers and improving the customer’s access to product.
Errett has deployed digital elements into the Madison Reed Color Bars: First-time customers fill out the same online questionnaire, and in a move of efficiency, the Color Bars will include office space where licensed, certified colorists will also talk to online customers.
Errett knew the Color Bar idea was a success when the pop-up was profitable within three months. The company saw a “huge” lift in sales online and offline afterward, Crowe said.
So although Madison Reed set out to reimagine at-home hair color, it also stands to dispel portions of the salon tradition.
“Hair color is the only market where people ask, ‘Where do you go?’ not ‘What do you do?’ ” Errett said. “A lot of women’s self-identity is with their hair color.”
With Madison Reed, she said, “women are empowered to own their beauty on their terms.”