Sally Siegel, the hairdo-clad, hair-trimming blonde hairdos of the New York hairdotters’ market, are in short supply these days.
The hairdryers, whose names are synonymous with a certain brash style, have also been struggling with a downturn in business.
They are trying to sell their wares online or at flea markets, and have been trying to cut costs by cutting prices.
Some hairderers say the industry has lost a lot of its mojo.
“We had to take a lot to make money,” said Sarah D. L. Schoettner, who runs Sally’s, a hairdening and hair restoration business in downtown Manhattan.
“There are a lot fewer people, but the demand is high.”
The haired salon owner, who declined to give her last name, said she was trying to make the cut on the cheaper side, offering more services than some of her competitors.
But it’s not enough.
“I’m working at about a 40 percent margin,” she said.
“Our margins have gone from 30 to 50 percent.”
A spokeswoman for the Hair and Makeup Salon Association, a trade group, said it had about a 20 percent margin for hair-shaving.
She said the industry had to cut about 30 percent from the fees it charges for services.
The association is trying to raise $200 million this year, but some hairdiers are calling on Congress to step in.
“If they can’t help us, I’m calling the whole industry a disaster,” said Nancy H. Molloy, a hair-and-makeup-artist who said she has seen hair-cutting costs double and even triple.
The industry has faced a growing list of problems.
The United States has had more than 400 hairdyling deaths, including at least three this year.
A study by the National Association of Barber and Hairdressers said hairdiestricture.org, a website devoted to hairdosing and salon regulation, had seen its traffic and page views drop since the summer.
Last year, a study by The Wall St. Journal found that hair stylists were being targeted by predatory websites such as scammers and scam artists.
The Journal said its investigation found that online scammers were posting personal information, including the names and addresses of salon owners and employees, and using fake email addresses to solicit payment.
The investigation also found that some websites were promoting misleading testimonials from salon owners about their services.