MEDIA RELEASE
30 April 2020
For immediate release
Just Cuts works closely with Salon Owners on trading through COVID-19
Just Cuts CEO Denis McFadden has been working closely with Salon Owners and Stylists to navigate the challenges of a COVID-impacted environment to support the financial health of each business and physical health of Stylists and Clients. All Just Cut salons will be open by 11 May with re-openings beginning tomorrow 1 May.
“We took the decision to close our company salons in late March for a month and recommended all salons in the network do the same given the risk to our Salon Owners, Stylists and Clients was too high,” Mr McFadden said.
“This was a decision supported from feedback from our people and clients that they felt the same. It’s obviously not been an easy decision and is an ongoing balance between keeping cash flow turning over while keeping everyone safe. With over 100,000 Clients a week visting Just Cuts, we wanted to do our bit to stop the spread of coronavirus. It wasn’t ideal commercially but we felt it was important to contribute as a group. “
“During this four week hibernation, Australia has made excellent progress in flattening the curve to the point we now feel we can safely action a soft launch operating under the strict processes recommended by government and the World Health Organisation.”
“Salons will start re-opening tomorrow (1 May) with all to be open by 11 May with the exception of those caught up in government lockdowns such as Devonport, Tasmania. I know from talking with our Salon Owners and Stylists that we are all pleased just to be here again for our clients.”
Just Cuts has a number of measures in place to continue to contain the health risk to us and our clients.
- All the recommended additional hygiene steps have been introduced including distancing, additional cleaning, sanitising each styling station and tools before and after each client, and constant use of hand sanitiser. Additionally,
- no coffee or tea
- no magazines
- contactless payment
- floor stickers so that people can easily observe social distancing
- restricted number of people in each salon with the recommended distance between each styling station
- we have imported PPE masks
- some stores may choose to also restrict those services which involve face to face contact eg beard trims (this is up to each individual store owner)
Quotes attributable to Just Cuts Founder and CEO Denis McFadden
Our decision to close in the interests of our Stylists and Clients at a time when confirmed cases of COVID-19 were rising here in Australia and when the UK and NZ Governments had moved to shut down hairdressing salons along with other non-essential services such as beauty parlours and gyms was the right one.
Over these four weeks of hibernation, we have seen Australia make excellent progress in flatting the curve to the point where we feel safe to proceed to a soft launch opening with strict measures in place in line with government and world health recommendations. We are also grateful that the Government has moved to provide support including through JobKeeper which will make a real difference to the financial health of our salon owners.
Just Cuts salons will all be open by 11 May with the re-openings beginning from tomorrow. This excludes those stores which have been forced to close by government such as our Devonport salon in Tasmania. We are excited to be here for our clients, and back getting Australia beautiful.
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LJ Loch 0488 038 555 or ljloch@alphaconsulting.global
Facts
- Just Cuts is the largest hairdressing chain in the Southern Hemisphere
- There are 2500 fully qualified stylists in the Just Cuts Australian network, predominantly in shopping centres, and 3500 globally. Just Cuts has 190 salons across all states and territories of Australia, 28 salons in NZ and 6 in the UK. The UK Government moved on 22 March to close salons with NZ following on 23 March. The Australian Government has excluded hairdressing from the list of non-essential services that needed to close and which included beauty salons.
More about Just Cuts
Just Cuts is an Australian hairdressing franchise that bridges the gap between a barber and a high end hair salon. With salons in every state of Australia, on both the North and South islands New Zealand and the United Kingdom, it is the largest hairdressing company in the Southern Hemisphere. Based on a fixed price, no appointment system, Just Cuts offers clients affordable haircuts from fully qualified hairdressers and performs over 100,000 Style Cut cuts per week across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Celebrating 30 years in 2020, Just Cuts was the brainchild of Denis McFadden, who turned a simple idea into a business concept that would change the hairdressing industry forever. McFadden ran his first ever “no appointment, $6 Style Cut” promotion at his humble Sydney salon, receiving an outstanding response from clients. It was on this basic fixed price initiative that the idea of Just Cuts was born. The following year, the inaugural Just Cuts salon opened its door to the public. And in 1990, the first Just Cuts franchise opened in the suburb of Engadine, in the south of Sydney, New South Wales. Our brand has continued to expand ever since, with over 220 locations across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
In 2013, Just Cuts launched JUSTICE Professional – a range of salon quality haircare and styling products available exclusively in all our salons at a competitive, affordable price. The JUSTICE Professional line has something for everyone, including everyday shampoos and conditioners, anti-dandruff and dry scalp treatments, toning products, nourishing leave-in treatments and a range of hair styling waxes and sprays.