The new normal in hairdressing salons: everything is faster and the 'Now 12' is little used

Rocio Magnani

12/02/2020 12:00

• Clarín.com

• Society

Updated 12/02/2020 12:00

To have a quick dye done and at the agreed time was an unrealistic expectation but, through covid-19, we went from "today it's a hairdresser, don't wait for me" to "I have my turn at 16".

Everything is possible in the market, if it comes to survival.

Pay a cut in state-funded installments, too?

The coronavirus pandemic left the beauty salon sector in crisis, with

in the City of Buenos Aires, while the rest try to regain strength after more than four months of low blinds.

From the sector, they estimate that

of the usual is being served.

It is a "chaotic" moment, describes Miguel Ligori, president of the General Confederation of Hairdressers and Hairstylists of the Argentine Republic.

Consulted by

, he estimated that the premises are today at 30% or 40% of the usual work volume and pointed out that of the

hairdressers that were in the Capital, there were around

.

Hair salons reopened on July 29 in the City.

Photo: Luciano Thieberger.

Although some districts of the GBA, such as San Isidro, and the city of La Plata had gone ahead, in the City of Buenos Aires the hairdressers were able to reopen after 131 days, on July 29.

The protocol of the Buenos Aires government includes some practices that do not affect the way of working to a great extent, such as controlling the temperature of each person who enters or having alcohol in gel, but

: inside the premises, you can only have a client every 15 square meters, to keep the distance;

it is only attended with a shift taken in advance;

and each head should be cared for by only one professional at a time.

"What happened before was that a client had a lot of services done on the same day, such as coloring, straightening and hands,"

the hairdresser Nacho Acosta

tells

.

The change in trend is now marked, both by regulations and by

: “What is sought is efficiency.

People want to be treated in a personalized way, with a faster service and without being locked up for a long time as was the case before ”.

Goodbye to the magazine in the armchairs, to the coffee and to be accompanied to attend.

The closing months were very complicated for hairdressers, both economically and because of "the uncertainty" and rumors, says Acosta.

“The situation forced many hairdressers to

, outside the framework of the law;

and many of us wait for an official opening, but it was trying to exploit creativity to face the situation ”, he describes.

At his hairdresser,

, in Martínez, he overcame the disqualification with the sale of

, with discounts, through an online platform.

In Mala, a hairdresser in Palermo Soho, it was decided to sell sets of products for coloring and hair care, together with the advisory service, in order to be able to pay salaries at this time.

The protocol allows only one person every 15 square meters.

Photo: Luciano Thieberger

Now, after several months of reopening, "people try not to go out so much and buy products to maintain their hair at home and not have to attend the hairdresser so regularly," says Mateo Iriart, general administrator of Mala.

He estimates that "the volumes of assistance are between

."

Now pay in installments

Within this framework, the national government in October incorporated hairdressers and beauty salons to the Now 12 program, a financing scheme that seeks to promote consumption.

The payment scheme, which was even extended to 18 installments in some areas, offers credit card payment plans for hairdressers in

and three months of grace.

That means that whoever went to get a haircut in November could choose to start paying for the service

and finish in

.

For Ligori, the president of the chamber that brings together hairdressers in Argentina, "Now 12 helped a lot" to the sector.

“We have 10% fewer hair salons nationwide.

And still people do not reincorporate them to their practice.

The profound change will be

”, he said.

Neither Mala nor

adhered to the Now 12 program. "It

is not used in

my

of clients, 

, nor do people ask," says Acosta, owner of

Although he does indicate that he sees a trend towards electronic means of payment, both to bank transfer - a method that he did not use before - and to Mercado Pago.

The news of the inclusion of hairdressers to the program

.

It was announced at the same time that cell phones were being excluded from the subsidized financing scheme, within the framework of a hit consumption and economic crisis due to the pandemic.

A haircut is a minor expense in relation to the purchase of a smartphone.

"Without Now 12, consumption suffers and people have less access to cell phones,"

the president of the Association of Electronics Factories (Afarte), Federico Hellemeyer

, had assured

.

Hairdressers use Now 12 little. Photos: Juano Tesone.

"I do not use the Now 12,

" says Diego Parola, owner of the Mot hairdresser in Recoleta.

And he explained that it is not possible to update prices to the level of inflation, nor considering a deferred payment "so as not to kill customers."

Carlos has a men's hair salon in Belgrano.

"From the neighborhood", he clarifies.

And it details that it only receives payments in cash or with Mercado Pago.

He asks not to put his last name on this note, to speak more frankly: "My rate does not give to do a Now 12. In the female category, there yes, because they handle other amounts, but you are not going to break anyone's economy with 500 pesos that leaves a cut.

Putting a Now 12 in hair salon

.

That can be for a refrigerator, for a car.

But for food or a hair salon, it's a shame. "

Jordi Zalazar, a hairdresser from San Telmo, assures that

of Now12.

"I am in a neighborhood where I see and work with the three social classes and it is costing a lot. People are bad and make you notice it, although there is a very small percentage that continues to spend and pay in cash or with a credit card, but the The truth is that if they have cash, they prefer not to mess with the card. And on top of that, the products went up a lot, and if you transfer those increases to people, they won't come any more, "he says.

DD / LGP

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