Ottawa hair salon debuts gender-neutral pricing

By Courtney Buchanan

A Centretown hair salon says it has seen a wave of new clients since it changed prices by introducing gender-neutral charges for haircuts.

Hair Junkie, located at 200 Laurier Ave. W., recently altered haircut prices so that clients pay depending on how long their appointments take rather than by hair length or gender. Time spent in the appointment chair will reflect the cost of the haircut.

Traditionally, women’s haircuts cost significantly more than men’s cuts. But Hair Junkie has broken the old pattern.

Salon co-ordinator Jessie Stevens said the salon decided to make the change after several staff members questioned the original men’s and women’s pricing for haircuts.

“I’ve been in the industry for 10 years. At the beginning, a client questioned it and I didn’t know how to answer it. Then it started being questioned by staff members,” said Stevens. “If you’re doing the same amount of work, why are we charging women more?”

Stevens said when she suggested gender-neutral prices to salon owner Fady Assaad, he was “super on board with it.”

“He is always ready to do something new and before everybody else,” said Stevens. Assaad has been in the hairstyling business for more than 30 years.

In photos: Hair Junkie salon chops gendered prices

Hair Junkie is currently the only salon in Ottawa that offers a gender-neutral pricing system based solely on time. “It’s an industry that is always changing, so we try to stay ahead of the curve,” said Stevens.

Hair Junkie has received attention from numerous media outlets, including CBC, Huffington Post and CTV News Ottawa.

“We have had a flood of clients calling because they heard on the radio,” said Stevens, referring to a CBC news item that was broadcast in August. “We have gotten both negative and positive feedback, but the majority has been positive.”

Charleen Chu, a 22-year-old Carleton University student, said she recently visited Hair Junkie after reading about its new gender-neutral pricing online.

Chu sports a pixie cut hairstyle and said Hair Junkie’s pricing benefits her wallet more than other salons.

“Sometimes I just want a trim, but that also counts as a cut,” said Chu. Trimming her pixie cut takes about 30 minutes, which at traditional salons would cost between $40-$60. But at Hair Junkie, Chu’s trim costs her the 30-minute appointment price of $31.

Prior to the price change, Hair Junkie charged $31 for men’s haircuts and $41 for women’s cuts, regardless of the client’s hair length. “The majority will notice a decrease in their prices,” said Stevens.

Stevens emphasized that Hair Junkie did not raise the price of men’s cuts, but rather altered pricing to reflect how long an appointment takes.

Now, a 30-minute haircut will cost on average $31, a 45-minute appointment will cost $41, and a 60-minute appointment will cost $61.

Undercuts, bang trims and beard trims cost between $10-$20. For clients who get a quick trim in less than 30 minutes, the minimum price for a 30-minute haircut will typically be charged.

Stevens said Hair Junkie’s inspiration for gender-neutral prices came from salons on the East Coast of Canada, as well as California. Stevens said Hair Junkie is working hard to ensure that clients as well as the public understand the new system.

“The hair industry gets criticism for not having black and white answers in terms of pricing, but we are a business and it comes down to the time that is taken,” she said.

The effort to create gender neutrality in public spaces is spreading across salons in the United States, the U.K., Denmark, Australia and now Canada.

There are still very few salons that have adopted the more levelled pricing system in Ontario, but Stevens said she anticipates that it will catch on.

“It’s time,” she said, “and it’s fair.”