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Salon In Oldsmar Pampers Men

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By NEIL JOHNSON

njohnson@tampatrib.com

Published: December 24, 2008

OLDSMAR - The first thing you notice when walking into Too Hotties Haircuts - well, the second thing if you're a typical guy - is the lack of the chemical smell that saturates places that do hair for women.

That's because the clientele seldom gets perms or heavy-duty dye jobs.

The concept of the Missouri-based franchise seems pretty simple: Do for haircuts what Hooters did for chicken wings.

The salon's formula focuses on attractive female stylists and an atmosphere that's more masculine than most salons that cater to women but also cut men's hair.

You rarely find a pool table, shoeshine chair or copies of Motor Trend and Maddux Business Report at a typical salon. Or free peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches, either.

The salon, at 3980 Tampa Road in Oldsmar, opened Oct. 9. It's the only Florida location among the franchise's 10 stores.

Owner Ross Rayner doesn't necessarily agree with the Hooters analogy.

"It's more than that," he said. "Putting beer down or a basket of wings is good honest work. But these women spent money up front for cosmetology licenses."

And he's heard the jokes.

Do you give haircuts in the nude?

The answer, Rayner said: "No, sir, state law requires you to keep your clothes on."

Aric Lewno, who can't remember getting a haircut any place except the traditional barbershop with the candy cane pole out front, made his first visit to the salon recently.

"They're friendly here," he said. "They're not hard to look at, but it's a lot more professional than I thought. I'll be back and pass the word on."

The chain's focus on male customers extends to the wait for a stylist. The chairs are thickly padded, the television is tuned to ESPN, and there are two Xbox video game machines and two massaging chairs.

A shoeshine, not part of the curriculum in cosmetology school, is optional. The stylists had to be taught that skill.

"I love doing shoeshines," said stylist Jamie Costello, 20.

Too Hotties is the third salon she has worked in.

"We pamper guys, and the uniforms aren't bad," she said.

The outfits change according to the day. Skirts and spaghetti-strap blouses are the skimpiest. Other days it's jeans, shorts or Capri pants. All, though, are in the chain's red-and-black color scheme.

A basic haircut is $19.95, although there are daily specials. Sundays, a kid's haircut is $7.95 if dad gets a full-priced cut, and cartoons replace ESPN on the TV.

Manager and stylist Tammy Knowles has done hair at six places and recognizes that Too Hotties' theme and name give a certain perception.

"Inevitably, we're going to run into that," she said.

Like many of the women there, Knowles prefers to cut men's hair and was considering a job at a barbershop when she answered the ad on Craigslist for Too Hotties.

Atmosphere and marketing aside, the bottom line in the highly competitive hair business is the cut.

"Obviously, if we didn't give good haircuts, we won't survive," Rayner said.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731. To see more scenes from the salon, visit north west.tbo.com.

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