Skin 33
34 Branded Male
The Refinery is also notable for its discretion. It feels like a herm- etic universe, screened from the street. While women’s nail salons often feature giant windows, the last thing a man wants when he’s getting a manicure is to be on display to passers-by. When it comes to their looks, men are hypocrites.
‘Every aspect had to be carefully planned, right down to the language on the treatment menu,’ says Waines. ‘We knew straight away that we had to steer clear of anything that shouted “beauty”
and focus very much on “grooming”. We also felt that men would be more comfortable taking advice on how to improve their appearance from women.’
Working on the logic that men’s priorities are a decent haircut and a shave, The Refinery at first leaned heavily on its barbering to generate loyalty. ‘But even then, we knew we had to offer a remarkable experience. Few men see the point of a fifty quid haircut. So we provide a consultation service, a scalp massage, a precision cut from a top stylist, and a hot towel at the end. Our traditional wet shave is equally luxurious.’
The strategy of pitching men with a few extras while they’re in the barber’s chair is as old as the question ‘Something for the weekend, sir?’, and it shows no sign of dying out. In the United States, the brand Aveda (owned by the ever-pioneering Estée Lauder) launched its first male grooming collection by sending 85,000 product samples to 6,000 hair salons around the country.
These came ‘complete with a detailed guide suggesting language, dress code and marketing strategies design to make men feel more comfortable when reaching for premium shampoo’. (‘Beauty companies sniff out men’s grooming sales’, Brandweek, 9 July 2007.)
To smooth the way from a haircut and a shave to a less familiar treatment, The Refinery introduced the concept of ‘The Pit Stop’.
‘It was a way of suggesting a 15-minute manicure, pedicure or massage in the kind of language a guy can deal with. The idea was
Skin 35
that he’d come in for a haircut but hang around for a few extra minutes for a manicure.’
Waines says he relies on word of mouth and media coverage to attract customers. Crucially, he also depends on women. ‘One of the things that surprised me the most when we opened was the number of men who turned up at the urging of their women. A large proportion of our new business is driven by gift vouchers, and most of those are bought by women for Father’s Day or birthdays.’
An early illustration of the influence of women was provided before the emporium had even opened. A delay in the refurbishment process meant that instead of welcoming its first customers in November 1999, as had originally been planned, The Refinery did not open for business until January 2000. In the meantime, though, The Sunday Times Style magazine had run a double-page article about the project. This meant that by the time The Refinery was actually up and running, it had already sold £20,000 worth of gift vouchers – mostly to women. ‘They were picking their way through what was practically a building site to buy vouchers,’
Waines recalls.
This echoes a comment by Wholeman’s Bob Ager, who notes that many of the customers buying lotions and potions in his store are women. Waines accepts that women will always ‘want their man to look good’, but he believes that men have become bolder in the few years since he founded his business. ‘Today, our clients regard The Refinery as a lifestyle brand along the same lines as Armani. Being a regular customer is something you can be proud of – it’s part of your self-image. The workplace is competitive and you need to look your best. A bar of soap isn’t good enough any more.’
The company now has three emporia in London (having taken over the running of the barbershop at Harrods) and an outlet in Tokyo.
36 Branded Male
In 2004 it launched its line of skincare products in association with Aromatherapy.
While The Refinery was something of a pioneer, it is not alone.
Male spas have been springing up for a while now. In the United States, they are usually more blatantly testosterone-driven offer- ings, with beer and TV sports on offer while a barber goes about his business. One of the models Waines looked at while planning his project was John Allan’s, the New York grooming establishment founded way back in 1988. Owner John Allan Meing currently has four salons in New York. And although the atmosphere feels classically American, Meing trained with top chopper Jean Louis David in Paris, where he learned that getting a haircut could be a luxurious experience. Now, for US$65 or an annual fee of US$600 for unlimited visits, clients of John Allan’s can get cuts ranging from a straightforward trim to an hour-long treatment – once again including a scalp massage and a hot towel – as well as a manicure, a shoeshine and a beer. Indeed, the bar and pool table contribute to the clubby, ‘rat pack’ ambience.
‘It doesn’t matter who you are – when you’re sitting in our chairs, we’re going to treat you like the most important person in the world,’ John Allan Meing told The New York Times. ‘As a guy, when you feel good about grooming, the whole process stops becoming a chore and starts becoming part of your usual routine.’
(‘Where guys can indulge in a little “me” time’, The New York Times, 16 April 2007.)
John Allan’s is essentially a barber shop with side orders, but as he observed in another interview, this time with ABC Eyewitness News, ‘When I started in 1988, a manicure was like a root canal.’
(‘The spa treatment… for men’, 17 March 2007.) Today, though,
‘along with the gym, the car, the relationship, the diet, all of that, we’re the last spoke of that wheel’.
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There is still room for expansion in the men’s skincare market.
But the very nature of the male consumer is likely to place a cap on growth. While women often treat skincare and cosmetics as a pleasurable indulgence, shopping for these products as enthusi- astically as they do for clothing, men need a concrete reason to buy a product. For them, everything relates back to function.