According to the 2017 Mintel Black Haircare report, 65% of the U.S. population has textured hair, and this demographic spends $11.4 billion annually on hair products and services. For black women, finding the right hair salon is critical and many high-end establishments do not cater to Afro-textured hair. One entrepreneur sought to change that.
Entrepreneur and CEO Piersten Gaines is one of many black women with traumatizing stories from going to the hair salon. The concept was created by a Harvard Business School graduate who founded the business after numerous bad experiences in hair salons. She wanted to create her own luxury salon that catered to black women and their hair needs.
Pressed Roots opened this month and has become the first-to-market luxury express salon experience for women with textured hair. The salon utilizes a special proven and repeatable technique (known as The Pressed Roots Method) that avoids damage and gets customers out of the salon in about 90 minutes.
“Like many women of color, I have been traumatized by the salon experience, even losing my hair at the hands of licensed stylists. I created Pressed Roots for me and the 42 million other women with textured hair in the U.S. who want a brand that prioritizes hair health and experience,” said Gaines in a statement. “Pressed Roots is fulfilling an immediate need in the salon industry, a blow-out bar for women of color. The beauty of our salons is that if someone goes to a new city, all they will need to do is a quick Google search to find our nearest location and have the peace of mind that a trained stylist can do their hair the right way.”
Gaines’ goal is to take the revolutionary concept and expand it to 50 locations across the country within the next five years. The current flagship location is located in Dallas. The company has already had successful pop-up events in the Boston, Atlanta, and Dallas areas.