Ask Karen - April 2001

April 14, 2001
Sally Hershberger Charges?

Question

Dear Karen,

I read your answer about how to contact Sally Hershberger and so I decided to call.I was surprised to hear that Sally in not easy to get into to see because she travels so much and is hardly in the NY Frieda salon. I was told that the last time that Sally was available for appointments was last September.

I was pretty discouraged and so I forgot to ask how much Sally charges for a cut and color. Also, how do you make an appointment if she moves around so much? I feel strange calling back and hoped that you might just know the answers to these questions.

Thanks so much for an incredible website. You are truly a pioneer in the consumer hair world and I for one appreciate you and everything you have accomplished.

Best wishes,

Sarah Jessica

Answer

Hi,

Thanks so much for your kind words.

Yes, Sally is celebrity in her own right. Just as Patrick Cameron and Laurent D are celebs, so is Sally.

I can tell you for a fact that Sally only cuts hair. She charges $450 for a cut. She does not do color and someone else would shampoo your hair and possibly dry it.

Ever since Ms. Hirshberger became famous for cutting Meg Ryan's sexy bedhead she has become very much in demand on movie sets, with famous celebrities and working on developing products for John Frieda. Her product, Sheer Blonde, has been a big seller and therefore Sally is definitely at the top of all of her games.

If you want to see Sally, call the Frieda salon and ask to be put on her waiting list. When Sally does pop into NYC and the salon, she will see as many as 8 new clients a day. Yes, you will have to pay a steep price but you do have a shot at getting to see her if you can wait for her next visit to New York.

Best wishes,

Karen

April 9, 2001
HairBoutique.com Doing OK?

Question

Dear Karen

I apologize in advance if my question is rude. I want to ask this question because I have been coming to HairBoutique.com since almost Day One. I love what you and Jeff have done with the site and wish you the best success.

However, I have been watching all the DotComs like Eve.com become NotComs. They are crashing and burning at a rapid rate. So I worry that you guys are not going to be around for the long haul. I guess without being too nosey I want to know how things are going for you and if you plan on hanging around the DotCom world.

I just love your site so much and would hate to see you guys not be her for the long term.

Thanks,

Tina

Answer

Dear Tina,

Thanks to wonderful people like you, HairBoutique.com is thriving and has lots of plans for a long and expanded Web life. Jeff and I currently have a three year plan all the way into 2004 for how we are going to enhance the HB.com site to make it even better for all of our loyal friends and visitors.

HairBoutique.com has always had a bootstrap, pay as we go, business model. We are 100% self funded, which means that Jeff and I personally funded the site from our own checkbooks from day one. We now are funded from sales of products and services along with other supplemental revenues that the site earns. Unlike the ritzier dotcoms that are now the notcoms, we have always done things very differently. We have never spent money that we did not have or had no way of earning. A lot of the building of HairBoutique.com came from long hours and hard work that Jeff and I have devoted to the site.

I am happy to report that we are financially solid and working our original business plan for the site.

We are also constantly adding new features to the site and to the online Marketplace. Our most recent additions for 2001 include the Interactive Style Selector which is a "one-of-a-kind" feature that allows selection of styles based on face shape, hair color, texture, hair event and many other selection options. We have over 2,000 photos currently loaded into the selector and are adding new photos on a weekly basis. It took many months to complete that project but we have received a lot of feedback that the new selector greatly enhances the HB.com gallery for our visitors.

Recently HB.com signed well-known Paul Mitchell educator and hair author Barbara Lhotan, to stage a custom professional photo shoot of hairstyles just for HairBoutique.com visitors. Barbara and noted hair fashion photographer Eric Von Lockhart have selected several gorgeous models for the HairBoutique.com hair shoot to be held in New York this month. The results of those one-of-a-kind photos and latest hairstyles will be available exclusively in our HB.com gallery.

Also, we recently launched the third generation of our online Marketplace which has all kinds of new user friendly shopping features from custom searching by product name or type, wish lists and frequent buyer points. In fact, you might want to stop by the Marketplace where we are having our annual 10% off Easter sale. We also have launched an affiliates program to allow many of our webmaster friends to financially benefit through a referral program.

To help our customers we have added a Call The Agent Button for web conversations about store products. Jeff, Michelle Dickstein (our newest Hairboutique.com full time employee) and I are all hooked up to the agent lines on a regular basis to answer online questions. We also will be offering a toll free 800 number for customer service calls and product orders within the next 30 days.

We have added several new product lines including an excellent all natural hair care line from Giovanni, Burt's Bees hair and skin treatment lines and pure jojoba oils. We have over 500 different items in our store and are continuing to add hair and beauty products that we know our visitors would enjoy.  Besides the fabulous Edwin Paul line we have expanded our line of hair supplements and hair jewels. We have finalized negotiations that will allow us to expand our product offerings to close to 1,000 by the end of the year.

Also, we have been partnering with our long time friends at many other websites. Besides NaturallyCurly.com, we have partnered with Longlocks.com, PromDress.net, SalonWeb, TILHC and World of Hair.

And yes...there is more. Much much more. We will continue to pump up our hair care content, add more guest writings from Jane Bullock, Victoria Wurdinger, JerkyFlea, Dr. Howard, Jay House and new writer T.A. Arceneau. We will be revising the 1,000 hair care articles that we currently have and adding lots of new material over the next several months. Look for some interesting interviews, new features and lots of new daily hair tips.

Thank you for caring enough to ask. HairBoutique.com, due to all the wonderful visitors and supporters over the past 3 years is doing fine. Thank you to everyone for being there for us.

Best wishes,

Karen

April 5, 2001
Sally Hirschberger?

Question

Dear Karen

I just love Meg Ryan's hair and want to look just like her. I read somewhere that Meg goes to Sally Hirschberger who also works on other famous heads. Can you tell me anything more about Sally and where I call to make an appointment with her? I live in Chicago, Illinois but would be willing to travel for an appointment with Sally.

I just love your site and figured if anyone would know how to find Sally, you would know.

Thanks,

Julie

Answer

Hi Julie

Ms. Hirshberger, long time stylist to Meg Ryan and Michelle Pfeiffer helped develop the Sheer Blonde hair care products by John Frieda and works out of the John Frieda Salon in New York City.

You can call Sally at:

John Frieda Salon Inc
30 E 76th St Fl 2
New York, NY
(212) 879-1000

Sally is usually booked for quite some time in advance and may or may not be taking new customers.

Hope that helps,

Karen

By submitting your question, you grant HairBoutique.com permission to publish it. Due to the volume of mail we receive, Karen regrets that she cannot respond to every question. To Ask Karen your questions send e-mail to: askkaren@hairboutique.com