If you’ve stepped into a luxury Double Bay destination where’s men’s style, client comfort and the salon experience are all paramount, that means you’ve probably wandered into Adilla Barbers. The men’s space aims to offer clients a true modern escape, with a recent relaunch that ensures their guests can take some time out and leave fully rejuvenated with an all-new menu and treatments.
“The inspiration came as I found myself jumping from barber to barber looking for something beyond a great haircut,” explained founder, Colm Flanagan, of the initial opening. “The opportunities for self-care for men were scarce and a luxury barbershop seemed like a good place to start. Increased stress from an accelerating career in growth marketing coupled with a decrease in my want to have a night out left me with few options for an experience I enjoyed. I wasn’t totally comfortable in salons although I had tried a few. Something in between was what I was looking for.”
“An idea was born. What if we could combine the look, feel and quality of a classic barbershop with the beauty services and experience of a salon to ultimately create a space where men can feel confident enough to truly relax? Why does having a haircut have to be a chore or a task, why can’t it be considered a luxury escape?” Colm asked.
The salon opened its doors three years ago and more recently prides itself on the Adilla Escape service. That is, a hair cut, including shampoo and scalp massage, a full straight razor shave or beard shape and line up, styled with V76 or American Crew products, and then a hot towel facial and moisturiser with the assistance of a professional, beauty-grade steamer.
“When we opened, we knew we were ahead of the curve in creating a destination for men, so we spent a lot of time educating the market around us. The goal here was to incorporate facials, treatments, skin care and products into our services whilst taking the time to explain the benefits,” Colm said. As an example, the steamer service offers powerful oxidising properties that soften the skin and remove dead cells, while strengthening the immune system, stimulating white blood cells, preventing infections and destroying bacteria and viruses.
“Although visiting a more traditional salon is fine, men and women do have different skin problems, different needs and require a different frequency of appointments,” Colm said. “We didn’t want a novelty shop, so our designer’s brief was to come up with something that is modern, relaxing and inviting. All of this was considered when creating the aesthetic, theme and well researched menu at Adilla Barbers.”
Despite the difficulties of 2020, the business has managed to acquire 60 new clients per month on average with the average client spend increasing significantly as clients increasingly continued to select luxe packages, with some men in the chair for up to 90 minutes. With that elevation, the relaunched menu was born, and the Adilla Escape has aided profits both in the salon and on the shelf.
“No major travel, home-schooling and working from home are just some of the things pushing people to feeling trapped, so during COVID we ramped up our knowledge on skin care to create the Adilla Escape, the combined professional hair and skin service giving our clients an opportunity to escape, if even for just an hour. The feedback has been so positive it helped us drive and keep focused during the rough spots in 2020,” Colm shared.
“Our retail sales have increased by 20 per cent YOY (year on year), as clients want to recreate this feeling at home. We have always had skin care products in the shop, however offering these more beauty focused services and with many clients now upgrading to our deluxe and escape packages, our skincare retail has increased noticeably,” he continued.
In its design, Adilla Barbers offers sophisticated architecture with supreme attention to detail. The salon is filled with internationally trained barbers for top-tier services, paired with a beer or whisky for the ultimate haven in a modern environment.
“We take pride in our culture and our approach to internal education. We shut our shops every six to eight weeks and have a complete team day,” Colm said. “The goal here is to share knowledge, feedback and to help each other improve in every aspect of our client service. It’s easy to lose focus or get complacent! As founders, we work for our team, our job is to listen and ensure they are happy, learning, improving and in a position to give our clients a memorable experience every time they visit us.”
“On the client side we have led the market in terms of service. This hasn’t been easy, but it has been worth it,” he continued. “We have upgraded and added extra elements that no-one else has, bridging the gap between beauty and barber. Lots of research, testing and investigation goes into our service upgrades. Our team is incredible and very driven. They are always eager to learn and iterate on what we offer our clients. They spend a lot of time perfecting their knowledge in product so they can always customise their client recommendation.”
An essential space for the modern man, Adilla Barbers is luxury, style and class personified. Be totally inspired by this flourishing space.
For more information visit https://adillabarbers.com
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