At a time when many businesses are downsizing or shutting up shop altogether, Polish beauty and hair salons in Dublin seem to be bucking the trend, even though so many Poles are returning home.
But why? The answer is simple: the Irish are coming.
Roma Pulit had more than six years of experience in the beauty business before moving to Dublin and establishing her own salon two-and-a-half years ago. Located on Upper Dorset Street, Ambasada Piekna (Beauty Embassy) offers a whole range of beauty treatments as well as hair styling.
Recently, Roma has noticed a change in her clientele. “Perhaps there was some quiet time in January, but it’s always been easy month,” she says of the usual winter drop-off in business. “Now people are coming in all the time. But this is because we don’t cater to Polish only – we are open to everyone. Quiet days are rather rare.”
Wioleta, who works at a beauty salon in Dun Laoghaire, has seen similar changes.
“It was very difficult at the start, as we had only Polish customers,” she says of the salon and tanning shop on Lower Georges Street, which opened in November 2007. “At the moment, with many Poles back at home, fewer are coming here – but on the other hand we have many Irish customers. Our prices rival the best in the neighbourhood.”
Roma concurs: “People are satisfied with our services. No wonder! In Poland, a hairdresser’s apprenticeship lasts three years, while in Ireland just a course is taken – this is something different.
“Generally we have many people [coming for] corrections, even from seemingly prestigious salons. The Irish like us because what we offer is on a very high level, and of course the prices are competitive.”
“Ladies coming [to my salon] say we give them our time,” adds Wioleta. “That’s not the case in Irish salons.
“When I have a customer, I do everything from start to end; it is not like one person washes the hair, another colours then another cuts. They just enjoy our service.”
With their business booming, it’s no surprise that ‘hairdresser wanted’ signs are going up in Polish shops and salons across the city. Good service, it appears, can beat even this economic crisis.
