| Don't look now; north India's beauty salon market is changing. Javed Habib, Kaya Skin Clinic, Lakme Beauty Salon, VLCC, L'Oreal and Shahnaz Husain Herbals are some of the leading edge players, and they're busy dolling up Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh. |
| "In the coming items we would be aggressively pushing our brand in the region," said Javed Habib on a recent trip to Punjab. Expect new outlets in Jammu, Patiala, Ludhiana, Jallandhar, Bhatinda and Shimla, to add to the 60 saloons the hair-care chain already has. |
| The regional chain Cleopatra, with shops in Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali and Jallandhar, plans to open in Delhi, Bombay, Ludhiana and Patiala. |
| Meanwhile, Lakme Beauty Salon, which has 88 outlets in 35 locations all-India, will take its count to 110 this fiscal year, many of them in north India. |
| According to Reena Chhabra, business manager, Lakme Beauty Services, "We already have our presence in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali , Jallandhar, Jammu, Amritsar, and have plans to open three more in Chandigarh, one more in Jallandhar, Jammu and Amritsar. Also, Karnal, Hisar and Ropar." A typical 1,000-2,000 sq ft store takes an investment of about Rs 25 lakh. |
| VLCC is expanding in the existing centres of Panipat and Gurgaon, while setting up shop in Shimla. According to Sandeep Ahuja, managing director and CEO, VLCC, though it has company-owned outlets in the cities of Punjab and Haryana, it is also looking at the franchisee model for further expansion. |
| Schwarzkopf, with its "partner salon" Headmasters, is in expansion mode too. According to Pramod Dewan, managing director, Headmasters, outlets are to open in Ludhiana, Jallandhar, Amritsar, Delhi and Bangalore. Also, a training academy in Panchkula. |
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