Salon Today - Salon Sisters
From Cutting hair in Tel Aviv to building a successful business and product line in Los Angeles, a pair of Israeli sisters weave together their professional and personal lives.
My male clients love to brag that they take a shower with us every day,” laughs Batia Elkayam, who with her sister Aleeza Callner, owns the Batia & Aleeza Salon in Beverly Hills. Elkayam’s clients are not referring to some provocative service on the menu, but rather to the salon’s signature Batia and Aleeza product line, featuring the duo’s glamorous picture on a sleek black bottle.
That kind of joking is right at home in the comfortable atmosphere of their salon. Part glamour factory, part living room, the salon resonates with the in-your-face friendliness of its owners. “We become very personal with our clients,” says Callner. “People like to hang out and have fun. It’s like they are visiting us in our home.”
Beginning as hairdressers while still teenagers in their native Tel Aviv, Israel, the sisters moved to Los Angeles in 1978 and soon after opened their own salon in West Hollywood. They moved to their current location in Beverly Hills in 1999. “We had to get used to doing business in America, and our clients had to get used to us,” Elkayam says. “People would get really upset when we ran on ‘Israeli time’ with our appointments. We had to learn to be more punctual, but our clients ended up staying longer anyway, just because they liked to be in the salon.”
The salon’s clientele draws heavily on the large Israeli population in Los Angeles (about 30 percent of clients are Israeli), as well as the celebrity population so well known to salons in the “Golden Triangle” of downtown Beverly Hills. “Sure, we have famous and not so famous,” says Callner. “But everyone is the same—they all become like friends.”
OUT OF NECESSITY
While both are working stylists, Callner steers the salon’s creative vision, while Batia manages the business end. Only 11 months apart in age, the 50-something sisters are still inseparable, gathering with their respective husbands and children (Callner has six, Elkayam has two) for weekly Friday night dinners. So it’s not surprising that a sisterly exchange about their personal appearances was the driving force behind the birth of their product line almost eight years ago.
“We were vacationing with our families in Hawaii, and I looked at her and said: ‘Why is your hair so frizzy? We should fix your hair—you shouldn’t have to hide your head when it gets humid,’” says Callner.
“The story is true,” admits Elkayam. “Except that her hair was a little wild too. We both wanted something that used natural and very high-quality ingredients to keep our hair beautiful. And that’s how it began.”
Working with a chemist and employing only naturally derived ingredients, the sisters developed a shampoo, gel and conditioner exclusively for use and sale in their salon. Since hiring a full-time marketing manager to expand distribution and sales, the Batia & Aleeza line is now available for mail-order through their website, and in salons and beauty supply stores in several states.
“Our goal is to have our products available everywhere and develop more products to complement our line,” says Elkayam. Sales have risen steadily, growing from about $300 per month in 1999 to $4,500 per month in 2002, with anticipated growth of 110 percent in 2003.
FEEL THE VIBE
“It’s a known fact: If you look good, you feel better about yourself,” says Callner. “We make our clients feel good. Our products make people feel good. They tell other people—word of mouth has helped our growth more than anything.” Unique treatments, such as Sunshine Highlights (which combines henna and highlights), a Linseed Olive Oil Conditioning treatment and an Israeli Follicle Therapy, set their menu apart from local competitors, according to the sisters.
Creating brand awareness for their line is the major goal on the forefront. While already popular locally with the Israeli and Persian communities, the sisters are taking a less casual approach to marketing than in the past. Advertising in local venues and participating in beauty industry events such as Hairworld are both tactics intended to change the Batia & Aleeza line from a boutique amenity to a nationally known brand.
Although national recognition is the goal for their product line, they have no such goal for their salon. “It would be difficult to maintain the consistency and feeling of this place if we opened another location,” says Callner. Instead, they prefer to concentrate on maintaining their current clients, adding new ones, and hiring more staff to accommodate their one location.
Despite the growth of their salon and the product line, it’s the small personal successes that still touch both sisters. Callner relays this story to illustrate her point: “A client brought in her 13-year-old daughter, who I’ve known since she was born. She wanted to look beautiful for her bat mitzvah—but she had this unmanageable, frizzy hair. I relaxed it, cut it and permed it on big rollers. You should have seen how great she looked—and that gave her confidence for the biggest day of her life so far,” she says.
There’s no question that clients leave Batia & Aleeza with more than just a hair cut. Just ask the owners. And then pull up a seat—you’ll be there for awhile.
profile: Batia & Aleeza Salon
location: Beverly Hills, California
owners: Batia Elkayam and Aleeza Callner
established: 1999
website: http://www.batiaandaleeza.com
salon and setup: 8 styling stations; 1 treatment center; 1 manicure/pedicure station
square feet: 1,500
employees: 10
employee compensation: salary plus commission
most recent hires: colorist and manicurist
prices: hair cut: $100 and up; color: $70 and up; highlights: $120 and up; massage: $30 and up
equipment/furnishings: custom
last remodel: 1999
primary retail product line: Batia and Aleeza
primary chemical services line: Goldwell
primary nail care service line: Gelousy
primary skin care service line: Dead Sea Premier