PROFILE
Beauty Emporium includes six Brownhaus stations and fi ve MOW treatment rooms
Since 2006, MOW has expanded inter-
nationally and there are now 33 branches in major cities such as New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bang- kok, Jakarta and Manila. T e facilities are operated as franchises, or as joint ventures in areas where Chua has a personal interest. T e strategy when entering a new market is to undercut competitor prices – such as Bliss – by 10-20 per cent (see p44).
HAIR RAISING
“I had a lot of fun with MOW as a brand and realised that it was particularly easy to mar- ket something dedicated to one thing. So then I started to feel that there was a gap in the market for going to a place that focuses just on eyebrows,” says Chua in explanation of why she launched Browhaus in 2004. T e concept she created was based on the
removal of unwanted hair on the face and the enhancement of eyebrows and eyelashes. She reintroduced techniques such as thread- ing – where thread is used to remove hair strands in a row – which can be done on its own or combined with tweezing. Yet the signature service is a semi-per-
manent patented treatment called Brow Resurrection, involving a vegetable dye being applied with a multi-pin to replicate intri- cate brow strands. “I saw people in New York charging us$70 (€54, £45) for brow shaping, so I came back to Singapore and tweaked the model, dropping the price point (see p44) so I could extend it to the masses.” T e style of the facilities was, once again,
trendy and diff erent – the name Browhaus was inspired by the Bauhaus design move- ment that combines craſt s and fi ne art. And Chua aff ectionately compares her business to
Selfridges department store in London is taking an interest in the Beauty Emporium concept
Chua was told that her key audience at MOW would be ex-pats. This spurred her on to reach out to Asian girls – now 80 per cent of her clients
the building industry where she specialises in demolition (waxing) and construc- tion (brow resurrection). Today there are 25 Browhaus stores around the world.
COMPARING BUSINESSES So, out of the day spa, MOW and Brow- haus businesses, which one does Chua feel is the most successful? All do well, she says, with each returning a profit margin of 20 per cent. While the day spa, with custom- ers aged around 30-50, only attracts around
42 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital
600 clients per month compared with MOW and Browhaus’ 2,000 customers per outlet, its prices are higher (see p44). “It’s a lot faster paced environment at
MOW and Browhaus,” adds Chua. “We’re run at 70-80 per cent capacity and people think of the services as a necessity, so about 50 per cent of our customers are members and the other 30 per cent are regulars. As the spa is still seen as a luxury the numbers are lower – about 25 per cent are members and around 30 per cent are return guests.
SPA BUSINESS 1 2012 ©Cybertrek 2012
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