MEET: DRYBAR:

Salon owner: ‘Focus on one thing and be the best at it’

Ali Webb is CEO of Drybar, which opened this year at Miracle Mile Shops.

Drybar

• Address: 3663 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Suite 180, Las Vegas

• Phone: 702-560-5243

• Website: thedrybar.com

• Hours of operation: 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 8 a.m.-midnight Friday and Saturday

• Owned/operated by: Alli Webb

• In business since: 2010

Describe your business.

Drybar is based on a simple philosophy: Focus on one thing and be the best at it. For us, that’s blowouts. We wanted to create a place to get a great blowout in a fun, beautiful environment, at an affordable price. It is so important to us to ensure Drybar is an enjoyable experience where clients can sit back and relax at the bar, enjoy chick flicks, sip on a beverage and leave with an amazing blowout. Staying in the bar theme, the menu offers seven signature blowouts, all named after cocktails: the Straight Up, Manhattan, Cosmo, Mai Tai, Cosmo-Tai, Southern Comfort and Dirty Martini. We also have a Shirley Temple for those 10 and under.

There are Drybar locations in several states and Canada. Why did you expand to Las Vegas?

Our clients have been asking for a Drybar in Las Vegas since we first opened. We are so excited we finally found the perfect location at the Miracle Mile Shops, which is accessible to so many great hotels and restaurants.

What makes the Drybar experience unique?

We are actually quite different from a traditional salon, as we don’t offer cuts or color. Drybar is also set up like a bar, where women can sit back, relax and enjoy the romantic comedy being played on our TVs. The mirrors are set up behind each client so when their blowout is complete, they are whirled around for the big reveal to see the finished result, which is a pretty fun moment.

How important is social media to your business and marketing?

It’s one of the most organic ways to connect with clients. We have a whole division at our company devoted to just social media, and it’s something that is truly near and dear to our heart.

What products do you sell?

We sell our entire product and tool line in every shop. When we started Drybar, there wasn’t a line out there, or even a mixture of two or three that fulfilled everything we needed to create the perfect and long-lasting blowout. After we opened our first few shops, I started down the path of creating our own line, which officially launched March 2013. We’ve been so humbled by how well received the products have been. None of us ever expected Drybar to turn into what it has.

What’s the most important part of your job?

That depends on the day. We now have a team of over 80 people who really keep the trains going every day. My main areas of focus range from product development, overseeing the training curriculum of Drybar stylists and customer service in the shops.

What have you learned from the recession?

Trust in your clients. Opening the first Drybar during a recession was a big risk, but it paid off. Through our upfront research, we knew we were filling a need and a major void in the beauty marketplace at the time. We figured if we treated every client with the best customer service possible, we could trust in them to become return customers who also spread the word.

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