Sola Salons VS. Salon Lofts!
Whats up everybody!
I hope everybody is doing amazing.
Currently in North Carolina hair salons have been made to shut down for 30 days to stop the rapid spread of Covid-19 aka the Corona Virus. So I have had some extra time to devote to Blog Alfa!
A couple of months back I wrote a blog post detailing why I chose a Salon Loft. This blog post will be about the pros and cons of Salon Lofts as well as the pros and cons of Sola Salons. I currently am in a Sola Salon Studio and I absolutely love it.
Make sure to leave comments below this post with any specific questions you have regarding the two.
I am not receiving any incentives for writing this article. I did a lot of research before choosing to move to a Sola Salon and I wish there was an article like this for me to read when I was looking.
In order to not have to constantly keep typing out Salon Lofts and Sola Salons, they will now mostly be referred to as SL & SS in this post.
Both SS & SL are places for independent stylists to work under their own business and licensing without having to have their own traditional salon. You must have a cosmetology license, or esthetics license, or even tattoo license to start, then you must also apply for a salon license and have State Board come in to inspect and approve your space. This is at least how it works in NC, where Alfa Jae Salon is located.
Both SS & SL include a styling chair, a type of stylist station, a dryer, & a shampoo bowl. Lets start with the specifics of SL first.
Salon Lofts:
Salon Lofts has more of an open concept design. The SL that I was in had about 30 lofts. They were all relatively the same size and price. There were two lofts that were larger that were about $50 more per week, the window lofts in the front were also $50 more per week.
Here are some things to know about SL:
At the beginning of my lease at SL they gave me about 3 to 4 weeks free. This was good for me because when I signed my lease with SL I was still working in a traditional salon and had to prepare my clients for the move as well as prepare myself to tell my boss who was also a friend that I was leaving. This was something offered to me at the specific Salon Lofts I was at & may not be something they always offer or have ever offered again.
There was no deposit to move in at least not at the location I moved into at the time I moved in. This may not be the case now.
They paid for my salon license, this may not be standard.
They include salon insurance in the cost of the rent.
They play & choose the music throughout the building, you are not allowed to play your own music/tv, or speak loudly.
They have open ceilings, which means noise carries. There is always a slight hum from the blow dryers and clippers. If you have noisy neighbors you will hear everything they say.
The doors do not actually close all the way in most rooms. There is a gap that the average person can stick their hand through. So I didn’t store anything of importance near the entrance to my loft.
SL claims to have cushioned floors, so you may not need an anti fatigue mat to work on. I can not attest to whether or not the floors feel cushioned because I still used an anti fatigue mat.
The floors do not stain. If color falls on the floor it is easy to wipe off without leaving a trace.
The maintenance team at my location was amazing. Everything was always clean, and they got back to you quickly with any concerns.
You hang all your own paintings, art, dryers, cabinetry, clocks, etc.
You can use a fob to enter the front door. You can use a key for private entry into the the back door. (At the location I was in)
This one is location specific: there was great parking at the SL, very easy access for handy capped clients.
4 Personal 1-person bathrooms, 2 of which are wheel chair accessible.
They paint your room for you & let you pick up to two colors, & they provide the paint.
Promotes more of a community vibe. Periodically brings snacks and treats to loft owners.
Laundry costs $1.50 per load.
No actual break room (my specific location)
They provide free wifi.
Nice decor.
Dim lighting. Not bright enough.
Automatic lighting that comes on when you enter the room, non-dimmable.
Not able to customize light fixtures.
Cleaners come 6 days a week.
Free education.
Rent Rewards: Rent rewards are money you can earn towards a certain amount off your rent. I shop mostly at Salon Centric. When I started with SL Salon Centric had a deal where .05% of what you spent went towards your rent. They no longer have this deal with Salon Centric, but it was very helpful on slow months when they did. Now they have deals with other places where you may shop online for regular not business items, you will have to change all your online accounts to you SL email in order to get the rewards, its not as convenient.
Outside doors usually lock at 8pm & 5pm on Sunday.
These are things I experienced but may not be standard. Somethings may have been offered to make my move to Salon Lofts seamless at the time. These things were offered by the manager of my specific location.
Ok, Now here are some things to know about Sola Salons:
They require a 2 week deposit to move in.
They let you take as long as you need to to move in, after I paid my deposit I didn’t move in until 8 weeks later.
Gave $400 in retail.
Salon insurance is not included & is due at the beginning of each calendar year.
They pay for your salon license.
The rooms are closed off with actual ceilings and doors that close all the way. This prevents a lot noise transfer. When the doors are closed it is very quiet.
You can play your own music or television, there is no central music.
The floors seem slightly hard & porous. It is hard to get hair color stains off the floor. Floors are very visually pleasing other than that.
The maintenance team hangs everything for you and does an amazing job, they will add a custom chandelier and have it wired to the room, hang all dryers, floating stations, art, & etc.
They give you a code to get in the front door after 7 or 8 pm when the doors lock.
Doors are locked all day Sundays.
They give you a fob and two keys. The fob opens the front door as well as the private entrance through the back door, which really helps if you’re bringing in a big order.
This one is location specific: the parking at the SS location I am currently at is not ideal for clients who may be handy-capped. There are not many handy cap parking spots and there are a lot of business near and around that also use the parking upfront. Often people have to walk from across the large parking lot.
1 Men’s Bathroom, with one stall. 1 Woman’s bathroom with 3 individual stalls.
The SS team paints the room for you and will even do multiple colors and stripes for you. My room came out so beautiful, its been months and I’m still getting compliments on the beautiful paint job. They require you to supply your own eggshell paint.
The maintenance team is amazing at their jobs. They have a lot on their plates and take a while to get things redone. If they hang something for you they will hang it exactly how you want it, if you later decide you don’t like exactly how it hung then you can request for them to change it. If it is not a dyer need it will take time to get it done.
They have a lot of different sized rooms at different price points. Some are very inexpensive.
All the rooms include cabinetry, and some rooms include an extra sink to clean bowls, brushes, etc.
Laundry costs $1.25 per load.
There is a nice break room with 4 chairs 2 tables, a tv, 2 sinks, 2 tables, 2 washers, & 2 dryers.
They provide free wifi and will provide cable and add it to your rent.
Beautiful decor that all my clients comment on and love.
Lighting is not automatic except for in the break room & bathroom.
Room lighting is nice and bright, and dimmable. They have a switch for a chandelier if you have one, and a switch to turn off an outlet (usually the outlet that you would plug your hot tools into).
I am not able to say how often the cleaners come. I don’t see them very often & I work very often. I would say cleaners come maybe 1x per week, but I can not say for sure.
Maternity leave.
Amazing sense of family but also personal space.
Annual party at Premiere Orlando.
Fun holiday parties and lots of educational events.
Free education.
Overall:
Overall I would say that I am much happier in Sola Salons than I was at Salon Lofts. I am the type of stylist where I need to be able to play my own music and watch my own TV shows. I like to be able to shut my door and not have to hear the conversations of everybody around me. I can have a low speaking voice at times and having to speak over other people and noise was very hard for me. I love having a ceiling, it makes it so much more personal and one on one feeling with my clients. I love having everything professionally hung for me and painted for me. I think you need more money upfront to start off at Sola but it is definitely worth it. I also love having the utility sink to wash all my bowls, and the included cabinetry is amazing for storage.