Charles “Buddy” Dudley and David Honeycutt don’t have children, except for their dog Reggie, but they have more than 100 employees at their three salons that they consider their kids.
After 17 years in Norwell and then Hanover, the pair is opening two new locations of Charles David Salon in Plymouth Sept. 4.
The first location, in the Pinehills, has been open since late June, but is expanding to include full spa service on that date.
The second location is off Exit 5 on Long Pond Road, where the former LA Salon had been.
All together, Charles David Salon has hired more than 20 new aestheticians, hair stylists, massage therapists and other employees over the past few months.
David Honeycutt, 54, a Manomet resident, speaks with a lovely Tennessee drawl when he talks about the business he and Buddy have grown over the past 17 years.
“When we opened 17 years ago in Norwell, the salon was very small, we had six chairs and five employees. Then the place next door moved and we took that space, then the upstairs opened and we took that. We took more and more space until we couldn’t grow anymore, and we moved to Hanover.”
The six-chair salon grew into a full spa in Hanover behind Boston Interiors with 42 stations and 90 employees.
Four years after that move, the pair started looking to expand their clientele, and started looking south.
The Pinehills provided the perfect spot, almost a colony that would someday grow to be as large as the original. The salon is located at One Village Green North.
“This location in Pinehills opened up so we took it. It’s tiny, only 780 square feet, we only have four chairs and we could only do hair,” Honeycutt said.
One of the reasons for the move was that Spascape, located across the hall, was closing. Honeycutt and Dudley quickly signed a deal on that space as well. Then they saw the advantage of the Long Pond Road location.
Both locations will open as full spas Sept. 4.
While coloring is Charles David Salon’s greatest strength (the salon has won Redken Salon of the Year six years in a row), the salon and spa also offers manicures and pedicures, skin care, message, makeup, and they sell the products they use at their retail center. The stylists also do bridal work and hope that the hotel proposed for the Pinehills comes to fruition.
“Hopefully it will become a wedding destination,” Honeycutt said.
If there’s one thing that sets Charles David Salon apart from others, it’s education.
“Our stylists are constantly educated, at least once a month we have a class,” Honeycutt said. “We never want to be flat, we’re staying on top of new products, how they affect women’s hair and skin, education is key for us.
“At some places you see women coming out and you don’t know if it’s the same woman because they all look the same, they all have the same style,” he continued. “And I think an educated woman holds her head a little higher.”
As proud as he is of his business’s accomplishments, Honeycutt’s biggest source of pride is the charity work he and his partner done.
“It’s kind of insane,” he said and laughed.
Honeycutt is the only salon owner on the South Shore Hospital Board of Trustees, and the salon has raised more than $150,000 for the hospital’s cancer center.
Each year, the stylists do the hair and makeup for the Kelley for Ellie Fashion Show with WCVB anchor Susan Wornick.
After looking over the salon’s $86,000 credit card fees with his accountant, Honeycutt began searching for a way to persuade women to pay by cash or check.
An animal lover who has always had dogs and horses, Honeycutt decided to tell his customers that if they avoided the plastic, he would donate 25 percent of those savings to the Scituate Animal Shelter. In the first three months, the salon donated $1,300. As a bonus, customers who pay with cash or check are entered in a monthly raffle for a free spa treatment. The plan is to also have an end of the year winner who will receive a year’s free haircuts and color.
“It’s like when you go to church on Sunday how you feel when you’re leaving, it’s just a great feeling when you’re ready to go out for the day,” Honeycutt said.
“As we grow here in Plymouth we hope to do the same thing…. I think next I want to save a horse.”
