Nearly 300 hairdressers from all over France demonstrated this Monday 30, June 30, Place de la Bastille against competition deemed “unfair” of “barbershops”, which multiply in the country.
“When some barbershops offer 10 euros for the cup, for us, it is not tenable,” says Christelle. This hairdresser for 27 years in the Paris region is one of some 300 professionals who came to demonstrate, Place de la Bastille, in the capital, this Monday, June 30. Branding signs and giant scissors brandished towards the sky, they made their anger heard and proclaimed their annoyance to the competition deemed unfair of barbers salons which flourish everywhere in France. The opportunity, too, to denounce the increase in charges that weighs on their activity.
Between 20%VAT, increases in charges and raw materials, hairdressing professionals denounce a situation which they deem untenable. “The employer expenses, the wage charges do not drop, they are particularly high. The advances today are not sufficient ”sums up Christophe Doré, President of the National Union of Hairdressing Companies (UNEC). A particularly important observation when in 2023, more than 1,100 fairs put the key under the door, a record. “We haven’t demonstrated for 10 years. We are rather silent, but here we are fed up ”insists the president of UNEC.
But what worries especially professionals is the boom of barbershops, accused of not respecting the rules of the profession. The hairdressers accuse the barbers in bulk of not having the diplomas necessary to exercise, to neglect the rules of hygiene in the salons and to bypass the taxation to lower their prices and to avoid declaring their earnings. “There are a multitude of salons that settle wild, illegallyStorm Christophe Doré. We expect more controls. If everyone does not pay social charges, it is a problem and it is not equitable ”. And to add: “Same profession, same rules”.
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“The charges must drop, we no longer get out of it”
In the crowd, Christelle, hairdresser for 27 years in the Paris region, claims concrete measures: “The charges must drop, we don’t get out of it anymore. The state must control and supervise the illegal hairdressers. So that we can pay our charges and our taxes, we need the state does its job ”. Pierre, hairdresser in the 18th arrondissement of Paris for 15 years, adds. “In the street of my living room, there are three or four barbers!” Some do not even have a diploma and they offer prices that defy all competition. I come out thanks to my loyal customers, but the new customers no longer come. I cannot lower my prices, otherwise I cannot pay my employees or my charges ”he deplores.
Karine, hairdresser for six years, insists on the need for a clear setting. “I manifest for more controls today, for fair rules for everyone on hygiene, on diplomas, on taxation. Summer, it’s not just to cut hair, it’s also social bond, human contact ”. Even within Barbershops, some denounce the drifts. Aldrick Quéval, hairdresser-bar of the Grizzly Barbershop show, defends a professional approach: “We are graduate men and barbers, qualified. When we opened ten years ago, we were 14 barbershop in Paris. Now we are more than 450 “. He details the difficulties: “We see an increase in fixed charges, rents, consumption costs. Between 50% and 55% of turnover is absorbed by the payroll ”.
He also insists on the quality of the service: “We take 30 minutes for a cut, respecting the hygiene rules. The competition at low prices achieves the services in 10 minutes by chaining customers, keeping the same tools, the same bathrobes. We know that in these kinds of establishments, the sums collected are not necessarily declared 100%. This devalues the profession. The hairstyle is an art, it’s up to us to fight so that it is valued again ”. A study by the Extended firm on the hairdressing sector in France in 2025, confirms tensions in the profession: inflation, increase in prices, drop in attendance, and explosions of the number of barbershops. So many points that worry professionals.
