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

Re: Hmmm..."crunchy granola" parts of town

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

I think that, as a woman who works almost exclusively with men all day long, I wish I didn't feel like Healthworks was too expensive for me to justify.

Also, I think drawing the racial analogy here is not entirely appropriate, mainly because, to use on_reserve's language, it's just not that hard to be white in a racist world.

Re: Hmmm..."crunchy granola" parts of town

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

I know we'll never see eye to eye on this, since I certainly don't believe it's in any way "hard" to be an american female in Boston in 2007. I generally clash with those who insist on being victims til the day they day as a result of anguish and woe experienced by those who came before them. I'm similarly inclined to roll my eyes at affirmative action. I do enjoy conversations on these subjects though, even though I know that since I don't think of "men" as a special scary oppressive group, I'm in the minority.

Re: Hmmm..."crunchy granola" parts of town

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

True, we won't see eye to eye, but . . .

I certainly don't believe it's in any way "hard" to be an american female in Boston in 2007

Clearly, you do not work in software. :) Obviously, things are not nearly as bad as they were 50 years ago, but the software culture is _very_ male-dominated. Girliness is frequently interpreted as ditziness which is frequently interpreted as stupidity.

Mostly though, it's just different. I don't consider myself a victim, but I can appreciate the desire to decompress in a place that's going to be dominated by the culture of the gender to which you belong. Like I said before, I'd be totally okay with a men-only gym. (I only pointed out the failure of the analogy because that was the argument on_reserve was making.)

Re: Hmmm..."crunchy granola" parts of town

[cemeterygates.livejournal.com]

I worked in high tech for many years and my significant other, as well as about 90% of my friends, are programmers and sys admins, so I am very familiar with the environment, actually! I think that geeks are prone to tease you to test your backbone, and likely to say things that are socially awkward, but unlikely as a group to actually "oppress" you. But that's just been my own experience... and the "culture" of the gender to which I belong is totally uninteresting to me, I think it coddles and fosters the weaknesses and not the strengths that estrogren imbues in us. I think building "cultures" that are inclusive, rather than exclusive, is the way to alleviate tensions like the type you describe in your workplace. ::shrug::

Re: Hmmm..."crunchy granola" parts of town

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Amen. Teasing someone to either cover insecurities or test their ability to fit into the group does not equate to oppression, but it is unpleasant, and it's easier to cry foul than to buck up.

[jadelennox]

Plenty of (well-meaning, would be horrified at someone thinking they're sexist) men in high-tech regularly assume that the attractive women they work with are not as bright and need coddling and special treatment. For years in high tech I got male managers explaining to me that dressing like the men did (t-shirts and jeans) was not acceptable. I was told I wasn't acting management-track and when I explained I didn't want to be middle management (like the senior women) I wanted to be architect-track (like half of the senior men, a much higher paid and more prestigious position) I got dumbfounded looks. In one company I worked for, all of the men who reported to the CTO had solo offices, but the three women who reported to the CTO shared one office. A male employee with a third my experience started with half again the salary. A female co-worker had to sit on the floor with her computer on a box for a month because they wouldn't find her a desk. This is a small sampling of what I and my female co-workers put up with in a wide range of Cambridge tech firms.

I'm glad you were lucky and only got teasing. My experience, and that of my co-workers (all of whom have been successfully driven out of high-tech by the absentminded hostility) was far more hostile.

Now I do the same work in a female dominated field with twice the respect at half the salary. Funny, that.

[volta]

Thank you for saying all of this here. I like the way you think.

Re: Hmmm..."crunchy granola" parts of town

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

/pops in to baffle

i recently worked at a software company where the entire marketing team was female, as was the ceo herself, and plenty of other employees working more directly with the technology itself. i don't know, i don't get it i guess. oh well.

[jadelennox]

Marketing, sales, and middle management in high-tech are often female jobs. However, it's an industry where the most highly paid and prestigious positions are programmers, and the further from the user interface (as in kernel developers as opposed to UI) the better paid and more presitigious. I have been in the industry for over a decade and off the top of my head can name a total of one woman who is a big name in the field, on the order of Larry Wall and Steve Jobs and Linus Torvalds. A female CEO in high-tech is very unusual and much to admired.

Re: Hmmm..."crunchy granola" parts of town

[dani-namaste.livejournal.com]

I'm with you, actually.