Price Increase Implemented December 1, 2024 and Why It Matters

This is the transcript from our price raise + inflation video that went up on Instagram earlier this week. To watch the full video, please click here.

Hi friends, I just wanted to talk a little bit about some upcoming changes in the salon. I have a feeling we might end up representing many other small businesses as they mirror similar changes, given the current climate. 

We have a price increase that will be taking effect on December 1st. 

The inflation rates we all hear about are an average of the increases of specific items we all use in our homes or purchase on a regular basis, but what does that mean? 

You may have heard things like, “the rate is back down to what it was in 2021 at 2.4%.”

That is a true statement but when you look at the prices of what you are buying, nothing is coming down. In fact, the prices are still more than 20% higher on average than they were in 2021. 

How can both things be true?

What does inflation really mean for you and for businesses like ours? 

The first thing to realize is, the infamous inflation rate we all hear about is a rate of price increases year over year, not average prices. If the rate ever goes “down” to zero, it only means prices aren’t increasing at the moment, and not coming down at all. 

We all know our dollars just have a Nasty habit of losing their value over time and how fast that happens is the rate. 

For the visually minded folks, I have some graphs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This first graph shows what the rate has been doing since 2010. It would appear as though we are nearing pre-pandemic normalcy so if prices in the store are still over 20% higher, it would be easy to assume that the store is price gouging its customers now.  

A clearer picture of what is actually going on is shown by the dotted lines on the graph below. You still see the rate from the last graph by the solid lines toward the bottom and you see them coming back down to “normal”, same as we saw before but now we can see those dotted lines make more sense considering the prices we all see. Basically, if you’ve has a dollar in you piggy bank since 2020, it's now only worth 82 cents. 

If this hasn’t been depressing enough, the rates and prices from the Bureau of Labor Statistics have been talking about averages. Some have increased more. Apparel, for instance, brings the average down while rent and transportation which affects so many other things, raises it. 

Here you see how it starts to break down into different categories. 

In the name of transparency, we want to show you a few of our real-life examples determining how we arrived at our conclusion. 

Box of foils went from $10.99 to $24.99 = 127% increase

Box of gloves went from $8.99 to $16.99= 88.9% increase

You can imagine how quickly we go through just these two items alone.

Rent increased 10% from just last year

Utilities increased 25% from last year

Insurance increased 30%

Speaking on behalf of many of the businesses you frequent, this level of inflation the last few years has been something we’ve never experienced before. It’s a feat in itself to have survived since 2020. Operating costs have soared and until now most small businesses have absorbed it. It’s not sustainable. Big businesses have no problem, they have the ability to spread their price increases wide enough that you don’t even notice an increase on each item. It’s not until you see the receipt and ponder why your grocery bill is considerably higher for the same amount of items. You’ll never see it announced, you’ll just eventually notice it. Small businesses are cursed with a considerable disadvantage. Top that off with a conscience-able desire to explain with transparency…it’s tough. 

We believe in complete transparency, honesty and integrity. Thank you so much for your continued support.