When Celestino “Les” Reyes conceptualized Reyes Haircutters (RHC) in January 2001, he intended it to become the “Filipino Family Salon.” Sure enough, this brilliant positioning captured the family of the Pinoymasa especially because, all of a sudden, there was this accessible salon in the community, with clean interiors and smiling staff, catering to the beauty and grooming needs of the Pinoy family, at prices which were not intimidating at all.
Salons back then had extreme niche markets; the high end ones and their elusive prices were located in malls, hotels, subdivisions, and other plush addresses vis-a-vis the neighbourhood beauty parlours which were reasonably-priced indeed, yet offered no assurance of product quality.
With every Reyes Haircutters Salon, quality grooming and beauty services, the latest being facials, spas and massages, came within everybody’s reach, with the most affordable being the P49.99 haircut. Even the products, both branded and signature “RHC”, are safe and effective to use on the face, hair, body and skin and have passed the stringent quality check by the Bureau of Food and Drug (BFAD).
The extraordinary growth of Reyes Haircutters is now history. With its 153 outlets (including one in posh London, England) and more to come locally there is no stopping their expansion. And so as to reach more of our countrymen in the Asia-Pacific region, RHC is going to Indonesia, Guam, Hong Kong and Malaysia, via joint ventures. Out of the total 153 stores, 14 are company owned and 139 are franchise outlets.
Les Reyes, himself, chairman and chief executive officer of Reyes Hair Company International Inc., admits to being overwhelmed with the positive reception of the market to his company’s products and services. To be able to live up to the speedy growth and maintain adherence to quality, his formula is getting good people to work for him and getting the right franchise partners to work with him. He says “communication with franchisees regarding the franchise system is key because franchisees are your best advisers when it comes to operations.” To all SMEs, Reyes says “work hard, believe in your products, yourself and your people.”