“For the first time this year, salon/spa owners reported a net increase in service sales. However, they also reported that retail sales continue to be soft,” said Sam Leyvas, PBA’s director of government affairs. “Long term we are seeing growing optimism on the part of salon/spa owners both in terms of service and retail sales in the months ahead.
The SSPI is based on the responses to PBA’s Salon/Spa Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded quarterly among 800 salon/spa owners nationwide on a variety of indicators including service and retail sales, customer traffic, employee/hours and capital expenditures. The Index consists of two components – the Current Situation Index and the Expectations Index.
The Current Situation Index, which measures current trends in five industry indicators (service sales, retail sales, customer traffic, employees/hours and capital expenditures)
For the first time in 2009, salon/spa owners reported a net increase in service sales, meaning more owners reported higher sales than lower sales. Thirty-eight percent of salon/spa owners reported an increase in same-store service sales between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009, while 36 percent reported a sales decline.
Although salon/spa owners reported an improvement in service sales in the third quarter, they continued to report soft retail sales. Forty-seven percent of salon/spa owners reported lower retail sales in the third quarter while thirty-six percent of salon/spa owners reported higher retail sales between the third quarters of 2008 and 2009.
The Expectations Index, which measures salon/spa owners’ six-month outlook for five industry indicators (service sales, retail sales, employees, capital expenditures and business conditions), rose 0.7 percent in the third quarter to a level of 104.6. The Expectations Index remains well above 100, which indicates that salon/spa owners are optimistic about industry growth in the months ahead.
Third quarter growth in the Expectations Index was driven by growing optimism for both service and retail sales in the months ahead. Fully seven out of 10 salon/spa owners said they expect to have higher service sales in six months (compared to the same period in the previous year). Only 8 percent of salon/spa owners expect their service sales volume in six months to be lower than it was during the same period in the previous year.
Salon/spa owners are also much more optimistic about stronger retail sales in the months ahead. Sixty-one percent of salon/spa owners said they expect to have higher retail sales in six months (compared to the same period in the previous year. In comparison, just 9 percent expect their retail sales to decline in six months (compared to the same period in the previous year).
“PBA takes pride in providing timely and relevant economic data to the marketplace,”
The full SSPI and second quarter Salon/Spa Tracking Survey Report can be found at www.probeauty.org.
