business

Nearly two-thirds of the hair salons in the country gross $250,000 or less a year, according to a 2009 survey reported by Ad Management Insights, a research service focused on the personal care sector.

Taj Salon & Spa in Brooklyn Park doubled that figure in 2007, its first year in business.

The Ad Management survey also showed that fewer than 16 percent of the nation's salons have annual sales between $500,000 and $999,000.

Taj Salon, a business owned by a trio of entrepreneurial women, topped $900,000 in its second year.

The survey also noted that fewer than 6 percent of U.S. salons gross between $1 million and $5 million a year.

Taj Salon, whose name adopts the first initials of the owners' first names, reached $1.1 million in its third year. And it's likely to get better, given that the company opened a second shop in March in Minneapolis' Seven Corners area.

Taj Salon is the brainstorm of Tasia Ashton, 25; Andria Strandin, 24, and Andria's mother, Jeanne Strandin, 50. Together, the trio dreamed up a business plan aimed at capturing the attention of potential customers in the northwest suburbs in a variety of imaginative ways.

Examples: Like most salons, Taj Salon offers a variety of discount promotions, several with a creative twist. There's the 40 percent discount on "new talent services," for example, which are delivered by a recent hire under the supervision of an experienced employee. And a "massage membership" that offers members six months of massage services and discounts on retail products.

And my nomination as the coolest idea: a "Weekend Warrior" discount on massages offered every Monday to help parents recover from a weekend of chasing the kids.

But there are more inventive -- and arguably more appealing -- strategies for differentiating the business: a "green" commitment that goes well beyond recycling waste paper and using energy-saving lightbulbs, for example. And a community service focus that continues year-round.

It all seems to be working: Taj Salon sales zoomed from $500,000 in 2007 to $908,000 in 2008 to $1.1 million last year. So far in 2010, the Brooklyn Park shop is on track to reach $1.3 million in sales.

The goal for the new Seven Corners location is $250,000, said Jeanne Strandin, the company's financial officer. The 1,300-square-foot Minneapolis site lacks a spa facility and is smaller than the 3,400-square-foot Brooklyn Park shop.

"Plus, it needs some of our tender, loving care," she said.

Which brings us back to the ladies' growth strategies, starting with the "green" commitment. It involves:

•Fewer direct-mail promotions to clutter up the landscape. Instead, the owners rely on e-mails and social media to promote the business. When they do any print advertising, they choose publications printed on recycled paper.

•Products used in the business come from "green" suppliers -- including one manufacturer that powers its plant with windmills.

•Like many salons in the metro area, Taj Salon collects hair clippings and ships them at company expense to a recycler. The aim is to use them as filler for nylon booms designed to absorb oil spills like the one threatening the Gulf Coast (although it was reported recently that the booms might not be used there).

•More uncommon, the salon also gathers the aluminum foil used in the hair-coloring process and delivers it to Twin Cities metal recyclers.

Then there's the community involvement, for which Taj Salon hosts a variety of fund-raising events ranging from fashion shows and cookouts to discounted haircuts at local churches and a variety of "discount days" from which proceeds are donated to charity.

"We try to do something nearly every week," Jeanne Strandin said, even if it's simply cash contributions and gift cards. Recipients include the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which supports education, research and treatment of breast cancer; Family Networks, an adopt-a-family program; Alexandra House, a women's shelter, and the Community Emergency Assistance Programs.

Tasia Ashton and Andria Strandin had been talking about starting their own salon since meeting in 2003 as trainees in a program run by Aveda, the hair and skin care giant. When they made the jump in 2007, adding Jeanne Strandin to the mix was a no-brainer.

Not only had the elder Strandin recently been trained as a skin care specialist, but her early background included a stint as president and co-owner of a Twin Cities company with four pharmacies.

The result is a business owned by three women who are "very business-savvy, good stylists and great with customer service," said Luann Lippold, vice president of Midwest sales at Aveda. But she agreed that the community and environmental aspects of the company's strategy are a key factor.

"I think what you give to this world, you get back," she said. Taj Salon's customers apparently agree.

After attending a Taj Salon fashion show with her daughter, a woman thanked the owners for giving her the opportunity to talk with her daughter about "community service" and for demonstrating "how to pull a community together."

"You really served as role models," she wrote in an e-mail.

Another customer put it more simply: "Thank you for all you do to make our community such a great place. You ladies are terrific."

Dick Youngblood • 612-673-4439 • yblood@startribune.com