Steve Sleeper
PBA Executive Director
Scottsdale, AZ
As we enter the last few weeks of 2008 and with all of the recent economic turmoil, it's almost a daily occurrence that I receive phone calls from members and the press looking for statistics and economic data about the professional beauty industry. Until recently, some of the callers I could help, some I could not. However, that situation is changing and changing rapidly.
PBA has always had great baseline information available. Research is a cornerstone of what trade associations provide their members and industry. This is why-as part of our ongoing mission to continually enhance the value of your membership-our volunteer leadership has been hard at work driving the organization to serve the needs of our members with valuable, timely and relevant research and statistics.
Set to be released at the 2009 PBA Symposium-taking place July 18-21 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas-PBA has initiated a landmark study of the salon and spa environment, covering everything from best practices in retail, global beauty trends, consumer experiences and expectations, competitive beauty environments and best in class salons. The study is groundbreaking in its depth and breadth of coverage, and we are extremely excited to bring this caliber of information to our members.
Recently released on the research front, the PBA Distributor Benchmarking Survey provides a snapshot of critical operating and financial information that allows members to compare their own organization with those of their peers (more on page 10). PBA has also just recently re-released the latest version of our National Salon/Spa Industry Profile, updated with the latest Department of Labor and US Census Bureau statistics. This report contains detailed data about the size, makeup and economic impact of our industry as viewed by the federal government.
In addition to this research, our PBA Research Committee has been working on enhancements to the PBA Haircare Market Shipment Study. Administered by the national accounting firm of Deliotte, the study is administered bi-annually and provides precise measure of sales activity at the manufacturer level. The hardworking committee is also developing a similar study for the appliance sector of our industry.
These new tools are all powerful reasons to remain a part of PBA. As a PBA member with direct access to this research, your business has a competitive advantage during this tough economic time. To learn more about these valuable tools, read on in this issue of PBA Progress!
I encourage you to renew early to make sure you don't miss out on any of these new tools and all of the other valuable benefits that PBA has to offer. Visit probeauty.org to maximize your return on your dues investment and thank you for your continued support!
Steve Sleeper
PBA Executive Director
Scottsdale, AZ