3 bags to a 3-story building
By Emmie G. Velarde
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:09:00 04/26/2008
FROM THREE CANVAS BAGS to a three-level building in 13 years. This is the story of a little parlor that could, and did.
When South Salon moves to its new home at the new Westgate property in Alabang next month, it will link up with three establishments to form the Serenity Group-Bona Café, which specializes in healthy snacks and drinks; Bohemian Nation, a showcase of Indian furniture and décor; and Serenity Spa, which will offer Ayurvedic (traditional Indian healing) treatments, including herbal oil massages. The setup, South Salon owner/creative director Victoria “Vicky” Torres-Sumbillo explains, will give clients the option of four experiences with every visit.
“We’re not partners in any sense that involves investment,” Vicky says. “We just support one another and hope to expand mutual clients’ interests. We are leasing the property from Westgate, but each one had his/her own building constructed.”
The site plan shows one structure that is two levels higher than the rest. That’s three floors of South Salon, which started, literally, with three canvas bags slung over the shoulders of three determined hairstylists—Vicky, her husband Henry and a technician—home-servicing clients in Ayala Alabang Village.
First clients
Gloria Garcia, wife of Freddie M. Garcia (then president of ABS-CBN) was their very first customer, Vicky recalls. “Then Berta Lopez, of the Kapamilya Lopezes, and her friends. It was a case of a few satisfied customers spreading the word. I never mentioned my previous affiliation.”
That affiliation was a salon chain where Vicky and Henry were senior stylists. The owner, respected in the industry, was Vicky’s mentor and friend.
Continuous training
“She saw my potential and gave me all the training I needed,” Vicky recalls. “When she died, I couldn’t stay.” As she tells it now, her real career started in 1995, when she struck out on her own with that portable parlor.
Vicky recently arrived from Shanghai, where she participated in a seminar—her sixth training in six years.
In 2002, after South Salon opened in its present location at the Westgate Tower on Investment Street, Alabang Town Center, she took the whole of September to join three intensive courses abroad—two in Classic Cut and Coloring at the Vidal Sassoon Los Angeles Academy in California, and an advance course at the Toni & Guy Hairdressing Academy in London. Four years later, she went to the Vidal Sassoon Advance Academy in London, and in June 2007, to Hair Impression Malaysia for the Advanced Professional Course.
If her theory holds up, she has at least five years worth of styling techniques tucked under her leather toolbelt. She explains, “Hairstyles have an average life span of five years in this country. The cuts and methods I learned in LA in 2002 came out here only last year.”
What Vicky says she does every time, fresh from further training, is mix new techniques with current styles. Clients need time to adapt, she points out. “It’s my job to educate customers on emerging trends, but it’s best not to be drastic.”
The key for her is patience. Plus, she says, “In the three yeas that I was home-servicing, I captured the market I wanted in BF, Alabang and Laguna.”
She and Henry were living at the time in Cavite. Clients would contact them by pager. She charged P350 for a haircut. “We also did coloring, rebonding, highlights, treatments, charging lower than Makati parlors.”
They tried to keep a day-to-day schedule, by area. “We also had clients in Antipolo and Quezon City. It was no joke to carry those heavy canvas bags. We would often be at work at 8 a.m., straight through till midnight.”
By the time they could afford a car, client volume had grown to a level where they found themselves canceling appointments. “We thought maybe we should have our own place already.”
They were sure only about the location. It just happened, Vicky says. “Besides, I was more comfortable in the south; it’s my home. All my friends are here, and my church community.”
One client opened the door. “Her name is Mylene Takase,” Vicky recounts. “She told me she had this idle property in BF Homes Parañaque; did I want to build a small salon there? I said I didn’t have enough capital.”
A short while later, Mylene repeated the offer, with concrete details. She was going to have a small building constructed and Vicky could rent the first level. “That was tempting,” Vicky says, “but I still didn’t have money for furniture and equipment. She said she was going ahead with the construction and told me, “Anytime you’re ready.”
Another client, Ana Ocampo of Sari Sari, would help next. Vicky relates, “We were servicing the Ocampos in Forbes, and Ana’s father teased me, ‘I get tired just seeing you lug those bags around.’ I mentioned Mylene’s offer, something I wouldn’t normally do, but we were at the Ocampos’ every other week, and I felt comfortable with them. Ana lent me the P300,000 I needed.” Vicky believes Ana charged a small interest just so that she’d accept the loan. “I made it a point to pay her back in one year.”
That first operation on Aguirre Sreet, BF Homes they named South Salon—“a small counter, two shampoo bowls, 10 chairs, four more employees.” To that little place went all of their clients from Antipolo to Laguna, including the Ocampos, of course (who are valued clients to this day). Also, “Glo and Freddie Garcia and their whole household; Berta Lopez, Tina Juan, Michelle Aboitiz and their friends. “Our 10 chairs were never empty, even when we raised our rates to P450/haircut, and so on, down the service menu.”
Within a year, the place had become too small. Mylene renovated the building and Vicky moved to the second floor. Now there were three shampoo bowls, 20 chairs, five more staff members. And haircut was P500. The rates were still lower than Makati rates, Vicky says, “but not too low, because we wanted to keep AB clients.”
South Salon would stay on Aguirre for three years. Vicky and Henry were now living in South Vale, still in Cavite. Everyday, they would pass Westgate Tower.
Soon, at their second-floor location, clients started complaining about the space again. Plus, BF Homes had become very strict about entry for nonresidents. Vicky says, “I told Henry one night as we drove past Westgate Tower, ‘This is our next location.’ When I had a look-see shortly after, I found out that the rent was much higher than where we were. But this space (which, at press time, they have occupied for almost eight years) was available! I made a down payment immediately.” Then she took out a P500,000 bank loan for renovations.
That was the year 2000. South Salon’s clientele continued to swell and Vicky upped her staff to 15. Five years later, the place was crowded again, so they opened a branch back in BF Homes, this time on Elizalde Street. Last February, the lease expired. Vicky and company are presently making the best of the limited space in Westgate Tower.
Business savvy
“Fear,” Vicky, the business strategist, says, “is not in my dictionary; caution is. I know my capacity. My books are up to date. All my transactions are in cash. The products that I use, like L’Oreal and Schwarskopf, are paid on delivery, so no backlog. At the end of every month, I see my net earnings. And when I decide to upgrade, I know exactly where we stand, financially.”
Her creative side she nurtures with the advanced training, the benefits of which translate to confidence. Vicky explains: “My passion for the job makes me want to give my best every time. You don’t get these from technical training. You talk to the clients and you learn about them, what they want. I should also be able to do what I think is good for them because I know the options. I’m happy only when I strike that balance.”
Vicky, now 40, and Henry, 49, have a son, Ezrah, 14, and daughter, Kezia, 8, who know their parents’ story by heart. They are the enterprising couple’s inspiration.
Vicky and Henry receive counsel from fellow church members (they make special mention of Luis and Candace Gonzalez). “We trust them completely,” Vicky says. And then there’s prayer, she adds. “My Father in heaven is wealthy and generous. I pray to Him and I listen.”
The new place will have 70 chairs, 12 shampoo bowls, and a full staff of 26. The Sumbillos have taken out the biggest bank loan of their career. Short of revealing exactly how big, Henry merely says, “We’re going all out.”
Several high-profile personalities have discovered South Salon, among them Lani Mercado, Christine Jacob-Sandejas, Christopher de Leon and Sandy Andolong.
Teacher, disciplinarian
As a boss, Vicky describes herself as “a disciplinarian and teacher.” When she teaches, she says, “I don’t hold back. I give everything.”
“Everything” includes intangibles, like attitude. “I tell them they shouldn’t be working for money alone—that’s the hard way. With the right attitude, everything else is guaranteed, including money. The really good haircutter understands that the package includes real concern for the clients. Coming to the salon should be a good experience for them. It’s not possible all the time, but it should always be the goal.”
Vicky, the teacher, believes she is heard because she speaks the truth and the staff feels it: “Whatever they learn for me, no one can snatch away from them. I am happy where I am, proud of how I got here. If they take what I offer, maybe they’ll be like me—and that’s not bad at all.”
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