Walked into a 5 chair shop in Portland with zero walk-in policy, how do they survive?

So I was in Portland last Tuesday checking out a buddy's new spot and next door there's this busy barbershop. Five chairs, all full, but the front door had a sign saying no walk-ins, appointments only through their app. I get the appeal of a set schedule, but this place had maybe 3 people waiting and I saw two guys walk in, read the sign, and leave. Meanwhile my shop runs 60% walk-ins on a normal Saturday. How do these appointment-only places build a base that steady without catching the drop-in crowd? Is it just about the app reviews or do they turn away that much money? Curious if anyone here runs strict booking and what your first 6 months looked like vs a mixed setup.

2 comments

2 Comments

zara4471mo ago

Is that shop maybe renting chairs to booked-out stylists who bring their own regulars?

sethmartinez1mo ago

That "bringing their own regulars" part is spot on. My buddy Tony tried this exact setup at a place in Portland. He had a solid client list from his old salon and thought renting a chair would be easy money. It worked for like two months until the shop owner started pulling his own people away with discounts and promos. Tony said it got weird because walk-ins would sit in his chair and the owner would push them to the other stylists instead. He ended up leaving because the place was basically using his name to bring in traffic without giving him any real backup. Sounds great in theory, but those shops always find a way to make it about themselves.