post #3

In my group we are working on a project for a salon that would also be a part of the school and include some community building aspects. I think that this salon is a great idea, and I have always said that BHS doesn't serve all of its students well in technical skills especially the girls as the autoshop is mostly attractive to male students. I really wish this actually existed! At the same time, I am curious, a a little worried about whether or not this salon would be successful. Most people in Brookline are willing to spend money for haircuts and spa treatments, thus I am worried that we will not have a large clientele as we will have a less elegant salon with owed prices, and more work will be being done by high school students. Up until, student run businesses (like restaurant 108) have been serving other students, not the general public. I would be interested to see who is attracted to this salon if it where to open, sometimes businesses are surprised by where they find clients.

One of my jobs right now is to figure out how to engage a diverse clientele. We are located in a most diverse part of Brookline, with many minorities living in areas such as Walnut St, 22 High St, and High St.  Vets. Despite this added diversity we will need to depend on wealthier Caucasian people as well if we want a successful business. Thus, I will need to find ways to engage people from different backgrounds, and with different hair textures. Barber shops and hair salons have always been a somewhat segregated environment, both by neighborhood, race, and gender. I am a little concerned that  some People of Color, will not always be particularly interested in offering their business to a salon where they will either be in the minority or will not be run by members of their own community. Luckily I have a good relationship with Oneka, a hairstylist who works at E FX, in Fields Corner, Dorchester. Her salon serves an exclusively black female clientele, in a Vietnamese sections of the neighborhood. I am curious to find out what challenges she faces, and how she serves her clientele in a place that my not be near their house.