Thursday, February 26, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Page 11
Wine? Champagne? How about a Pabst?
. Susan Terry - Staff Photographer
A sign listing prices for hair cuts and a 10 percent discount for bike riders seeking a hair
cut at the salon. Salon owner Beth Adams chats with a customer.
West Asheville hair cuttery offers a free PBR with any haircut
By Alyssa Spencer
Staff Writer
AFSPENCE@UNCA.EDU
The Blue Ribbon, a hair salon for men
and women in West Asheville, takes the
experience of getting a haircut and adds
an ice cold PBR while sitting in the bar
ber chair.
“We serve customers a Pabst Blue Rib
bon when they sit down,” said salon own
er Beth Adams. “I decided to serve PBR
beeause I like it, and it’s cheap. Beer is
our equivalent of other hair salons’ wine
as a refreshment.”
Adams, who opened the salon this past
July, said she wanted to own a business
with a laid-back vibe and an atmosphere
conducive to Asheville’s relaxed environ
ment.
“I want customers to walk in and feel
like they can just sit down, play cards, talk
about whatever they want, drink a beer
and get a good haircut,” Adams said.
The salon is decorated with old-fash
ioned furniture, a Pabst Blue Ribbon
horse lamp and refrigerator. Customers
can sit and wait on a couch near a maga
zine rack or on stools at the old-fashioned
counter.
Adams plays old rock ‘n’ roll and
country music.
“I don’t feel like I’m here to get my
haircut,” said junior Jon Hall. “I feel
like I’m at a friend’s place, lounging and
drinking a cold one.”
Adams said she hasn’t received any
negative comments about serving beer,
nor did she need to get special authoriza
tion to do so.
“As long as it’s a complimentary bev
erage, and we’re not selling it, then it’s
fine,” Adams said. “People love the Pab
st thing. Some people come in here and
have a beer at ten in the morning. They
are limited, though. We give one beer per
person, and we do ID.”
The salon’s staff includes four stylists,
including Adams, and prices range fi'om
$5 to $26 for cuts and $45 and up for col
oring.
' ‘Trices are reasonable, and we can
• save-you money here,” Adams said. “If
you don’t want a shampoo you don’t have
to pay for it, and if you don’t want a blow-
dry you don’t have to pay for it. So there’s
no pressure in walking out the door with
your hair all done if you’re getting ready
to just go to the grocery store.”
Adams, a first-time business owner,
said the hardest parts of opening were
getting permits and naming the salon.
“I’m glad the beginning process - deal
ing with the city and getting permits - is
done,” Adams said. “It was hard coming
up with a name, too; that came last-min
ute. Someone suggested Blue Ribbon, so
we just went with it.”
Adams said despite the business’ slow
start, she now has several regular custom
ers and business is great.
“Our clientele is pretty even between
women and men,” Adams said. “We get
a lot of families - we get more kids than
I thought we would. But everybody who
comes in is laid-back.”
Hair products, such as Goldwell, KMS
and Joe Grooming, are for sale at the front -
of the salon behind the counter and candy
dish.
“This place is so quaint,” senior Mary
Anne Graver said. “The interior is so
welcoming and cozy. It seems like a great
place to work.”
Adams said that she encountered little
negative feedback since opening the sa
lon.
“The only negative comments we have
run into is at first we were walk-ins only,
and we changed that over because people
wanted to make appointments. Really the
only negative feedback we’ve had is from
people who walk in and we can’t fit them
in. But for the most part, if people have to
wait a little while, they’re okay with it.”
The Blue Ribbon, located at 506 Hay
wood Road, offers a 10-percent discount
to customers who ride bikes and sells gift
certificates in all amounts. Punch cards
offer a free haircut after the seventh one.
“People need to get a different price
point than a high-end salon or a Super
Cuts. They need something in between,
and I think that’s where we fall in,” Ad-
■ams said.