Latecomer, but serious about beauty supplies!
‘The Hair Depot’ in Dallas
The Hair Depot, a beauty supply store in Dallas, Texas, is a massive 50,000-square-foot store. Opened in 2021, the store is known for being very clean inside and out in addition to its large size. From the exterior of the store to the spacious parking lot, the outdoor advertising and store signage are equally impressive. You’ll definitely find it easily while on the road.
We sat down with Dooly, The Hair Depot’s general manager in early 20s, to talk about the business. Dooly and other employees politely declined being photographed, but we got many answers about the store as well as photographic details of the interior.
Please introduce yourself.
I’m Dooly, in my early 20s. I’m from Yemen. Our store opened in 2021 and as you can see, it’s a big store, nearly 50,000 sq ft.
What are some of your focuses while running the store?
First of all, it’s a big store, so organization is very important to us. When customers walk into the store, we want to make it easy for them to find what they’re looking for by organizing merchandise into sections. We also try to keep our store clean, putting extra miles aside from regular cleaning. The words in the town is our store being very clean and organized. Lastly, and most importantly, we provide a friendly and customer-focused service that is unmatched by others.
Inside the store, accessories are neatly organized by section.
What services do you offer specifically?
We have 20 employees, and we usually have more than 10 people working at any given time. We always have at least three employees at the counter to promptly deliver customer service. We have four cash registers to minimize the amount of time customers wait in line. Not only does the wig section have dedicated staff, but we also allow customers to try wigs on before purchasing. We have a special display for the “wig of the month” to draw customers’ attention. We have staff in each section, who are in charge of organizing them from time to time, so that customers can find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible. Customers have told us that it’s easy to find specific brands of items because we organize braiding and other items by brand.
At the wig section, you can see the “wig of the month” area and the desk where you can try on wigs.
Braiding hair products organized by brand
It’s neatly organized into sections such as chemicals, accessories, jewelry, and so on.
I hear you’re invested in online marketing too. How do you run it?
While our primary focus is on the brick-and-mortar store, we also invest heavily in online marketing because of the convenience it brings to younger customers and the viral nature of digital marketing. We have a dedicated employee who manages our website and Instagram account, and we’re constantly updating them. The official website provides store and product information, and Instagram is where we share store news and promotions. As of today, we have over 42,000 followers on Instagram, many of whom are highly engaged customers, who we deeply appreciate. We expect the number to grow.
Dallas has a lot of big beauty supply stores. Are you very conscious of the stores around you?
No, we are not. We don’t necessarily care much about the stores around us. We don’t play around with prices. We want a level playing field as much as possible. We don’t sell everything discounted or something like that, but we only do price drops during promotion periods. Instead, we strive to provide the best service and a pleasant shopping experience that makes us unique. We are aware that most beauty supply stores are run by Koreans. So we’d like to see everyone engage in fair competition. And we’re working hard every day in that regard.
Finally, what is your vision?
As I mentioned earlier, our goal is to be the number one beauty supply in Dallas. We’ve only been around for about three years, so we’re trying different things to get more repeat customers. And most of the people who work here are young, so we pride ourselves on being a young, vibrant place to shop. My personal wish would be to work hard and get rich (laughs), and I want my family to be healthy and happy.