November 21, 2011
Weldon Barber Spokane is always in search of the latest in styling trends to help our clients look sharp and sensible. In Weldon Barber Spokane’s recent inquiries, we’ve seen the return of another of history’s classic styles.
 The beginning of the new millennium has seen a huge movement toward the clean-cut looks from our past. In a recent post on Weldon Barber Spokane’s blog, we discussed the return of the pompadour. The style, cut short on the sides with the top styled up and back, is reminiscent of James dean.
Now, in the latest trend of this movement we’re seeing a return of a style closely related to the pompadour that finds its roots in the 1930’s. Just as with the pompadour, this style is cut short on the sides and long on the top. However, the cut, coined as an “under-cut” in Sweden, is greased back on the top using a small amount of pomade. The result is a nostalgic look reminiscent of an era of tailored style that focuses on quality in the fine details. The New York Times has denoted this style as “a go-to haircut not just for Web designers in heritage-brand clothing, but for fashion designers and D.J.’s in the style capitals of Europe.”
The trick to successfully pulling off the under-cut is a sharp cut. It is important to have a quality hair stylist to assure the sharpness that this cut demands and define the short areas of hair verses the long in an appealing way.
March 16, 2005
Selling Nordstrom-Style Service, Almost to a Hair
A former officer at the department store chain is the main investor in a string of barbershops aimed at offering men good cuts and extras.
L.A. Times
March 16, 2005
By John K. Wiley, Associated Press
It all started with a bad haircut.
In Spokane, Wash., where the mullet is still a socially acceptable hairstyle, Bill Nordstrom was disappointed after a trip to the barberr
The result was Weldon Barber, a string of upscale men-only barbershops devoted to the customer service his family’s Nordstrom department stores made famous.
Nordstrom, 41, is the main investor in Weldon Barber, which opened six shops in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, last fall.
The company’s name, a play on the words “well done,” was chosen in a series of meetings between Nordstrom and Julie Kembel, a longtime friend of Nordstrom’s wife, Suzette.
The former college friends reunited after Bill Nordstrom resigned in August 2000 as executive vice president of Nordstrom Inc.’s East Coast operations and moved back to Spokane, where Suzette Nordstrom grew up.
A former executive vice president and cousin of Nordstrom Inc. President Blake Nordstrom, Bill Nordstrom spent time in the 1980s at the family’s Spokane store.
“My background [in retail sales] led me to believe it’s possible to do this,” Nordstrom said. “My wife said maybe this is something that would be a good business. It occurred to me it might be.”
Visitors to the shops are offered coffee, cola or bottled water as they wait in oversized leather chairs. A coffee table overflowing with men’s magazines is under a large plasma screen television.
For $22, customers get scalp and shoulder massages, hot mint-scented facial towels, a razor trim and a haircut by a specially trained barber. Hair coloring and beard trims are extra.
Weldon Barber is being launched as traditional barbers are closing but spa-style men’s parlors are gaining popularity.
Several national marketing surveys estimate the men’s hair-care industry to be a proposition worth $10 billion to $15 billion a year. The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts growth in specialty barbering, even though traditional barbershops are hanging on.
“We have been looking at growth in the number of salon-spas exclusively for men,” said Wendy Liebmann, president of WSL Strategic Retail, a New York market research company.
“When we started looking at the industry, traditional barbershops were, statistically, the fastest-shrinking category in the ‘beauty’ industry,” Nordstrom said.
Commodity franchises, such as Supercuts Inc., are part of the reason, he said.
“It’s hard for barbershops to compete against price-competitive models,” he said. “We thought there was room in the market for an alternative that was more service-oriented. What we have found, it’s being well received.”
Plans are for expansion to other cities in the Northwest and, eventually, nationally, Kembel said. The company is looking to open six more stores in the Seattle area this fall.
“We wanted to make sure that the No. 1 focus was the customer and the employee,” she said. “It’s a people business, so we want to make sure that we are being consistent with the customer as well as consistent with our employees.”
That makes for a more portable business, she said.
“We wanted to make sure that whether the customer went to a shop in downtown Spokane, or whether he goes to a shop, potentially, in Seattle or wherever, that he gets the same consistent quality experience each time,” Kembel said.
Attention to detail, a hallmark of Nordstrom department stores, is what will separate Weldon Barber from its competitors, she said.
“There are so many details that we have perfected, to know that these are the things men will embrace, they’ll enjoy and that they ultimately will be loyal to,” she said. “It’s consistent, it’s quality, it’s clean, it’s dependable, comfortable, masculine, and it’s a great haircut. There are a lot of things that go into that $22 haircut and this experience.”
March 7, 2005
One Nordstrom Plans to Bring ‘Well Done,’ Haircuts to Seattle
In this midsize Eastern Washington city, where the mullet is still a socially acceptable hairstyle, Bill Nordstrom was disappointed after a trip to the barber.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
March 7, 2005
By John K. Wiley, Associated Press
SPOKANE — It all started with a bad haircut.
In this midsize Eastern Washington city, where the mullet is still a socially acceptable hairstyle, Bill Nordstrom was disappointed after a trip to the barber.
The result was Weldon Barber, a string of upscale men-only barbershops devoted to the customer service his family’s Nordstrom department stores made famous.
Nordstrom, 41, is the main investor in Weldon Barber, which opened six shops in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, last fall.
The company’s name, a play on the words “well done,” was chosen in a series of meetings between Nordstrom and Julie Kembel, a longtime friend of Nordstrom’s wife, Suzette.
The former college friends reunited after Nordstrom resigned in August 2000 as executive vice president of Nordstrom’s East Coast operations and moved back to Spokane, where Suzette Nordstrom grew up.
A cousin of Nordstrom Inc. President Blake Nordstrom, Bill Nordstrom spent time in the 1980s at the family’s Spokane store.
“My background (in retail sales) led me to believe it’s possible to do this,” Nordstrom said in a recent interview. “My wife said maybe this is something that would be a good business. It occurred to me it might be.”
Visitors to the shops are offered coffee, cola or bottled water as they wait in oversized leather chairs, peruse men’s magazines on an oversize coffee table and watch a large plasma screen television.
For $22, customers get scalp and shoulder massages, hot mint-scented facial towels, a razor trim and haircut by a specially trained barber. Hair coloring and beard trims are extra.
Weldon Barber is being launched when traditional barbers are closing, but spa-style men’s parlors are gaining popularity.
Several national marketing surveys estimate the men’s hair care industry to be a $10 billion to $15 billion a year proposition. The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts growth in specialty barbering, with traditional barbershops hanging on.
“We have been looking at growth in the number of salon-spas exclusively for men,” said Wendy Liebmann, president of WSL Strategic Retail, a New York market research company.
“When we started looking at the industry, traditional barbershops were, statistically, the fastest shrinking category in the ‘beauty’ industry,” Nordstrom said.
Commodity franchises, such as Supercuts, are part of the reason, Nordstrom said.
“It’s hard for barbershops to compete against price-competitive models,” he said. “We thought there was room in the market for an alternative that was more service-oriented. What we have found, it’s being well received.”
Plans are for expansion to other cities in the Northwest and eventually, nationally, Kembel said. The company is looking to open six stores in the Seattle area next fall.
“We wanted to make sure that the No. 1 focus was the customer and the employee,” she said. “It’s a people business, so we want to make sure that we are being consistent with the customer as well as consistent with our employees.”
That makes for a more portable business, she said.
“We wanted to make sure that whether the customer went to a shop in downtown Spokane, or whether he goes to a shop, potentially, in Seattle or wherever, that he gets the same consistent quality experience each time,” Kembel said.
Attention to detail, a hallmark of the Nordstrom department stores, is what will separate Weldon Barber from its competitors, she said.
”There are so many details that we have perfected; to know that these are the things men will embrace, they’ll enjoy and that they ultimately will be loyal to,” she said. ”It’s consistent, it’s quality, it’s clean, it’s dependable, comfortable, masculine and it’s a great haircut. There are a lot of things that go into that $22 haircut and this experience.”
The stores all are company-owned, not franchises, to ensure consistent service every time, Kembel said.
Although the shops do not offer the full “spa” experience, the company is studying requests for other services, such as manicures, facials and full face shaves, she said.
Spokane, with a metropolitan population of about 400,000, offers the perfect test market, Nordstrom said.
“A market like Spokane has a lot of diversity and different neighborhoods where we could put locations in and see the responses we got and make changes to services,” Nordstrom said. “It’s not your standard franchise model because we are taking a more service-oriented approach than is out there currently.”
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