|
By Christopher Brooke
Country Classics Hair Design will evolve its
business instead of suffering from a lack of demand for tanning in the poor
economy.
The owners' decision to adapt shows that at
least a few merchants are keeping their heads in the weakening of the national
economy.
Rather than continuing to get burned with the
decrease in demand for tanning, Priscilla Sizemore and son Mike Burnette will
shut that portion of their business down.
The owners see the chance to provide a more
necessary service in its place and they feel good about it.
In June, they plan to open a child care center.
Amid all the hoopla about the credit crisis, the
slowing economy, the failure of banks and the closing of chain stores, the
perspective taken by Sizemore and Burnette seems much more hopeful than those
found in most media reports.
Noticing a significant drop-off in use of the
tanning beds that coincided with a year of massive layoffs in the Twin Counties,
Sizemore and Burnette concluded it was time to adapt and change to fit the new
circumstances.
"The biggest change we're making is we're
getting rid of the tanning business," Burnette told The Gazette, as
Sizemore continued to tend to a roomful of hair clients. "As times have
gotten harder, tanning's becoming a luxury.
"And around here when it comes down to it —
food or tanning..." he shrugged.
The choice is simple.
Every working parent, will continue to need
child care as they make ends meet.
This will be a new venture, and Burnette sees
the ability to reshape and adapt as a good one. The owners have run the idea
past their customers with children and have talked to other child care centers
in the area.
So far, everyone has voiced approval about the
coming change.
From other people in child care, they hear that
there's more demand than spaces for kids. The others can't keep up with demand.
"Most day cares we talk to say they're
turning down kids left and right," Burnette said.
"One thing that's going to set us apart is
we will have a licensed teacher who's running it, and she will be setting up
different kinds of learning programs to keep things fun."
He believes in evolving to keep up with the
times.
Country Classic first started out with two
tanning beds in 1988. A big boom in tanning came in the late '80s and early
'90s, and during that time they added another five beds.
Demand has gone down and leveled out to the
point where tanning was no longer profitable. "We can go back and track
when the first factory closed..." Burnett points out.
In the last few years, more people wanted to own
their own bed. Country Classics had no problem selling all seven of their
machines in a week.
Talking with business development officials at
the Crossroads Institute and social services representatives, Sizemore and
Burnette believe there's growth potential in child care.
They also feel good about creating four jobs
with their new venture.
"It don't sound like a lot, but when you
got nothing, it's something," Burnette said.
The owners will see how it goes with an eye
toward expanding to offer child care for second-shift workers.
The facility will be licensed to keep up to 25
children, Sizemore said. Whitney Coleman — who's getting a four-year degree in
teaching from Radford this spring — will oversee the child care efforts.
It's not time to let your business get stuck in
a rut, Burnette said, "Because a rut is just a grave with both ends
knocked out."
This economy is survivable. Burnette's take on
this situation is that not all that much has changed. "To me, what's
happened is that for years everybody's bought and bought stuff they didn't even
need and then common sense just set in and then for the first time.
“Instead of going out and getting a brand new
car like you do every four years, you start thinking about a nest egg or
something, 'cause people have just started putting back more," he said
"The money's out there, just nobody wants to let go of it."
On the government stimulus package, Burnette
says the more they hand out, the less it works.
The man that has only one dollar is more
sensible with that one dollar than a man with a million dollars.
The hair salon will continue to do business,
Burnette said it's still doing well. A hair cut's not really a luxury, though
some people might put theirs off for a few weeks longer now.
Sizemore said she's been thinking about what to
do with the tanning space for about a year.
She got the idea for child care after talking to
Coleman, who said she could run such a business with her degree, as well as
teach. So, Sizemore offered to set Coleman up in the space she had available.
Sizemore has two grandchildren, Loren and
Parker, who could stay in the day care — who she could sneak over and love on
in between clients, she said.
Burnette acknowledges they don't know exactly
what to expect with the new service, but they are excited about taking this
step.
"The true test always comes when you see
what you've got after you got it," he said. "You can stand back and
talk about something, but until it's put forth and brought together you don't
get the full views and aspects of it all."
http://www.galaxgazette.com/cgi-bin/c2.cgi?055+article+News+20090402170259055055010
|
