How would a concept like mine do in Davis Square?

[neknockouts.livejournal.com]

I recently acquired the master franchise rights to a relatively new but fast growing salon concept called Knockouts®. 

It is a sports-themed franchised salon chain providing competitively-priced haircuts and other grooming services including coloring, massage therapy, facials, manicures, pedicures, and hair waxing. It caters specially to men by offering a pampering experience that is not available at other discount walk-in salons and without charging high-end salon prices.  

Each salon features specially-chosen staff of female stylists wearing Knockout Girls^® uniforms, large leather chairs fitted specially for men, individual flat screen TV's with a remote control at each station and complimentary beverages. The environment is upscale and professional yet casual and fun.

Since 2004, Knockouts has sold more than 123 franchised locations in thirteen states, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Texas and Vermont. The chain currently operates nine salons, with many more scheduled to open soon.  For more information, please visit our websites www.nekocorp.com and www.knockouts.net.

I'm looking into the possibility of putting my first location in Davis Square.  Do you think it would do well in Davis Square? Are there good locations available? Any input/comments would be welcomed and greatly appreciated.  Thanks...

Comments

Could you elaborate

[neknockouts.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the input. I have been to Davis Square, although I can't say I hang out there. I'm looking at possible locations more from a demographic population standpoint. On paper, the population size and other demographic data certainly support the business. However, there are other intangibles such as mood of the town (perhaps that's part of what you were referring to) that would for or against the business. Could you elaborate on why you think it's completely wrong for the neighborhood. Thanks so much...

[ifotismeni]

er, have you ever been to davis square? that sounds completely wrong for the neighborhood.

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

Honestly, Davis/Porter are very progressive areas, and I think your concept (sort of Hooters for the salon industry, if i read you correctly) would have a much better reception in the less "crunchy granola" parts of town. You might look into something on the greenline near Kenmore, or even in Boston Proper.

[ifotismeni]

or billerica, haha

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

They're pretty particular about what goes into Davis Square, from what I've seen (they being the Somerville Powers That Be)...

I can see a potential furor over an establishment with specially-chosen staff of female stylists wearing Knockout Girls® uniforms, though...

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Oh...now that I've looked at the website (http://www.knockouts.net/), change "potential" to "inevitable and epic."

Somewhere around Fenway would be a better bet.

[tisana.livejournal.com]

From the men I know that spend time in Davis? Probably not.
Perhaps that's a bias I have that I only really know men who aren't that into sports, though.
Now, closer to Fenway, yeah, sure...

[makoshark.livejournal.com]

They also all have shaggy long hair. :)

(Speaking of a Davis Square male with shaggy long hair.)

Srsly

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

It'll be great. You'll be a big hit with the customers from Diesel Cafe especially.

Seriously, though if I were trying to think of the worst possible Boston location to locate a breast-centric metrosexual men's grooming lounge, Davis Square would probably be it. That, or maybe Beacon Hill.

There's plenty of sleazy fops in the Boston area who would love your concept, though. Kenmore and the BU area, Everett, maybe even the Financial district.

Re: Srsly

[ron_newman]

Oh, I could think of one worse place -- Centre Street in Jamaica Plain.

[ron_newman]

Sounds wrong to me. Perhaps Kendall Square or Alewife would be a better fit?

[hoppzor.livejournal.com]

Kendall? ...no.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I think you'd do better over by BU/Northeastern. My sense is that most of the guys in Davis are just a little bit too feminist/feminist-supportive to go to what sounds like "the Hooters of haircuts."

[ron_newman]

How did you pick Davis as a possible location? How familiar are you, if at all, with our neighborhood?

[ifotismeni]

i wholeheartedly suggest the fenway or BU areas as they're friendlier to concepts like these. (or billerica)
remember, davis square is full of dirty hippies, none of the men get haircuts anyway ;P

[ah42.livejournal.com]

I got one! But I went to an honest-to-goodness old-fashioned barber shop. And I've moved away, so I don't count anymore.

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

Im sorry - but I have a lot of difficulty believing this isn't a troll.

I'm just sayin'.

[ifotismeni]

sadly i don't think it is, which is what makes it funnier :P

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Would this place actually refuse service to women, or is it just that it's aimed at men but would serve anybody?

(Also, 123 franchise locations sold, but only 9 salons?)

[spatch]

I HAVE BOUGHTEN EIGHTEEN FRANCISES AND THEY ALL OPENED IN MY HEAD

[manley1.livejournal.com]

I think you'd be better off in the area near whatever the incarnation of the Boston Garden is now. You will get the commuter traffic from North Station and will be near the financial district, plus may be able to capture the Celtics/Bruins goers. Plus, there is a large amount of sports bars in the area.

Fenway is a good possibility, but I don't think you'd get the same volume of traffic as you'd get around N. Station. I think the clientèle in the Fenway area outside of game times would be largely students and gay men who would probably be unable to afford the services or be uninterested in the whole Hooter girls thing, respectively.

Just a thought.

[timclark.livejournal.com]

Agreed. North Station area seems perfect for this.

Absolutely no way would this work in Davis.

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I think you should post this question in b0st0n, too. For a wider range of opinions, etc.

[ah42.livejournal.com]

and a wider range of snark!

[gnibbles.livejournal.com]

... Maybe if you opened a sister-franchise that uses penises and six-packs to attract female clientèle for pampering too. -_-

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Cockouts!

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

So, never been to Boston, I take it.

No, your concept would NOT do well in Davis Square. Try in the Fenway or near BU.

[ron_newman]

Next question: does Davis Square need a NASCAR Sports Grille ?

[ifotismeni]

oh god ron_newman WAY TO FUEL THE FIRE, GEEZ.

:P

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

It's a sorry state of affairs in this country when the lure of titties is necessary to get men to groom properly.



That said, I think Davis would likely be a nightmare choice of location for a business like this. It's the wrong crowd. Since you don't know the area, its only fair to tell you that heterosexuality is far from universal in this neighborhood. We have a very strong representation of gay, lesbian, bi, transgendered, polyamorous, pagan, geek and everything else that doesn't fall smack into the mainstream. Which is not to say there aren't heterosexual men here who like boobies. There are. But there are a lot of women who like 'em, too.

Honestly, I would skip all of Somerville, all of Cambridge, and probably most of Boston except Kenmore and the Fenway area. Someone said Nashua, and that's probably a good bet. You also might do well out in the Route 1 area, where there are a lot of sports bars and strip malls where what you're doing could work out well.

i mentioned nashua

[ifotismeni]

in all seriousness to the poster, it's a great location for a franchise like this. it's very franchise friendly, the crowd is a lot open to ideas like this (the hooters is right there), and rent prices are a LOT cheaper than they are in the boston area. i grew up right around there and can easily imagine a store like yours there doing well, no problem.

[makoshark.livejournal.com]

This sounds like a horrible idea for Davis Square.

I'm not sure which residents will like less: the sports, giant TVs, the misogyny, or the fact that this is a franchise/chain store.

I think you'll do a lot better in another neighborhood.

[ron_newman]

Oh, Davis has plenty of sports fans, who are happy to watch Red Sox games at Mike's or Orleans or the Sligo or the Joshua Tree. You should have seen Elm Street 10 minutes after the Sox beat the Yankees in 2004, and again after they beat the Cardinals.

[ravendark122ils.livejournal.com]

The only place in Greater Boston I can imagine such a repulsive thing thriving is on Route 1.

[ursamajor]

When I go to your company's official website, and the first thing that greets me is a banner with the recommendation for your company from Fox News - well, Fox News is reviled in this left-laying liberal area; it is perceived as a beacon of "all that is wrong with rightist rhetoric."

So even before we get to the predominantly-white girls dressed in cheerleader outfits catering to a very specific niche of heterosexual male clients that don't really frequent this part of town, the fact that you're operating as part of a chain instead of starting your own independent salon, heck, even the use of the "registered trademark" symbol ... I gotta say, running a successful business venture of this nature anywhere in the Cambridge/Somerville area is not likely to work out well. The people who've suggested Saugus and the Rt. 1 strip-mall area are right (and being kind or optimistic; I would've said your best bet was probably over the border in New Hampshire. Or maybe, *maybe* Springfield.)

There's a reason no Hooters exist within a 75-mile radius of Boston.

[ron_newman]

isn't there a Hooters a block from the New Garden? Or did it close?

No.

[hoppzor.livejournal.com]

(http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/02/26/f-a-i-l/)

[myselftheliar.livejournal.com]

This is entirely innapropriate in general, but particularly so for Davis Square. I'm annoyed just learning this place exists.

Summing up

[spatch]

With regards to the question "How would a concept like mine do in Davis Square?" I believe the answer is this:




Thank you for the time and the lulz, as you certainly seemed to have brightened up the afternoons of a great many people.

Re: Summing up

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

And how!

[billharnois.livejournal.com]

that would have been amazing if you had replaced the Someday Cafe space last year.

[ifotismeni]

hahahahha epic flame lulz