Daily Star
---- — Shop Talk is a weekly column featuring locally owned and operated businesses. This week, we talk to Bob Stineford and Danya Crossman, owners of Mane Street Cutters hair salon in Oneonta.
How long have you lived in the area?
Bob Stineford: My family moved here from Connecticut when I was a young child, and I've lived here ever since.
Danya Crossman: I've lived here 11 years. I moved here from Olean.
Tell me about your business:
Stineford: We are a full-service hair salon. We do haircuts for men, women and children, as well as color, perms and hair extensions. We specialize in color, and sell a variety of top-of-the-line hair products. We're open six days a week, Monday through Saturday. We also serve complimentary coffee and other beverages.
Describe a typical day in your business:
Stineford: Scheduling appointments, doing our scheduled appointments for the day, as well as walk-ins. Just keeping the salon in order. Restocking supplies.
How did you get started in this line of work?
Stineford: I was interested in this line of work in high school, and after graduation I trained in Syracuse. I later worked at Edmund's Barber in the Pyramid Mall until 1984, when I opened Mane Street Cutters.
Crossman: I started not quite after high school. I took a year and traveled in Europe, in Germany. I went to college because my mother wanted me to, but I knew I wanted to go to beauty school. I tried college, didn't like it, and then my mother let me go to beauty school. I always wanted to do hair. Once I started, I loved it.
Where do you see this business in five years?
Stineford: We would like to add more services if space becomes available.
What is the most challenging part of what you do?
Stineford: Keeping on schedule on a busy day and managing all the tasks of running a business.
The most enjoyable?
Stineford: Having a successful business and having had the opportunity to work with and meet so many nice people.
What have you learned from your work?
Stineford: There is a great opportunity for anyone willing to work hard and build their clientele. It is important to keep up with the current styles and trends and make your customers your top priority.
What sets you apart from your competitors?
Crossman: We provide a service, but we consider what we do a profession. Our customers aren't just customers, they're our friends. We like to pamper our customers. We have a party at the end of the year that we invite our customers to _ they're a part of the salon.
I think they enjoy the whole environment. They don't just come here to get their hair cut. I would say we have about a 90 percent retention rate. We have stylists who have been doing hair for years. If one of my customers goes to someone else here, they're going to get the same quality of service.
Stineford: We try to keep the shop updated and renovated. We did a complete renovation a year ago _ all new equipment, new floor, new lighting, new paint, we pretty much changed everything.
Crossman: Before, it was a bright Southwest theme, now it's earth tones, serene and more modern.
What advice would you give to someone trying to enter your field of work?
Stineford: Be willing to put the time into building your clientele and be patient during the building phase, which can take several years.
For more information about Shop Talk, or to suggest a business, call 432-1000, ext. 217, or e-mail news@thedailystar.com.
