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Many Quebec hairdressers will have no choice but to increase their salon prices, even if they try to avoid passing the bill on to their clients.
“We expect exorbitant costs. For us, this is a second wave,” says Lucie Dufour, who handles product orders for the Le Bloom salon in Sainte-Thérèse. A large part of its shelves is devoted to products from the American brand Redken,
“We have seen prices explode since the start of the trade war. Shampoos, conditioners and other products have already increased between 35 and 40%.”
“We believe we’ll face a significant price increase due to the counter-tariffs. We’ll have to adjust our prices, but sales will decrease.”
At the moment, no internal decision has been made regarding service prices to compensate for the potential loss of revenue.
Several hair salons have switched suppliers for their products in recent years, turning to brands like L’Oréal, whose products are made in Canada.
Another layer
“They are going to blow up an already complex situation,” explains Mathieu Courtemanche, hairdresser and owner of several Les Barbares salons.
According to the entrepreneur, the effects of the counter-tariffs will be felt quickly by hairdressers.
“Our net profit margin has decreased significantly with all the price increases of the last few months,” he adds. “We’re trying to absorb as much of it as possible to avoid passing it all on to our customers.”
According to him, his hair product company BRBX will be hit hardest by the trade war.
“Costs have increased faster than our ability to absorb them,” says Mr. Courtemanche, who had to almost double his prices to achieve a minimum profitability.
A major blow
Desjardins published a report on Tuesday on the harmful effects of tariffs and counter-tariffs.
These particularly affect imports which are used as inputs by companies, such as BRBX.
“They will have to modify their inputs or accept higher costs,” it was stated.
“Otherwise, they will have to turn to suppliers who are not American.”
If they maintain their American partnerships, their sales could decrease due to prices being too high for consumers.
