New Salon Electrical Question

[hotkiss]

Thanks for all your input..this helps ALOT!

[sunsally]

Originally Posted by hotkiss

Im not sure. I will find out. The leasing agent said that in the last salon she did they needed a 400 amp service b/c they had a stand up bed and a hot bed. Do you know the cost of 400 amp service. I know it depends on a lot of things but I am just trying to figure out a base cost or high cost..just a starting number if you will. Any ideas? We are planning on 6 beds one being stand up and one Mystic Tan.

Before you sign a lease, before you take another step you need to STOP IMMEDIATELY and figure out what you are doing!!

When you say the leasing agent said they had a "hot bed" -- what does this mean to you?

When you say you are going to have 1200 or 1400 s.f. -- which one? How wide is it? How many units CAN you fit? You want to start out with just 6 beds and a Mystic - why? Based on what? Do you think that 6 beds will provide adequate revenue to cover the rent, buildout, payroll, utilities, bed payment, etc? If so -- you must be talking about putting in high revenue equipment. These will require a lot more electric service. Also more A/C -- which of course requires more electric service.

You have a leasing agent. Has she advised you to NEGOTIATE your electrical service and HVAC needs? You should. In a brand new buildout, you should be negotiating rent rate, rent increases, lease term, renewal clauses, T.I. money, basic vanilla box requirements, etc. Do they put in the bathroom or do you? Will your area require 1 or 2 for that size space? Will you put a laundry room in? Gas or Electric Dryer? Are you doing a Mystic that is self-contained or will that require plumbing too? These sorts of things should be considered in advance, so you can try to get the landlord to cover as many of these costs as possible.

Does the building have 3 phase service or single? This will make a difference in how many amps you need as well as what equipment will be better or worse choices in terms of how easily they can be used in one setting or another.

It seems you have already decided on your equipment company (which is of course one of the LAST things you should have done....) but if so, they should be able to help you with all of this and more, and should be helping to advise you on this if they want you to be able to be successful.

There are years worth of posts on this site covering topics like this and almost everything else you should know BEFORE you think about opening a salon. Dig in and read, read, read, read!!! You will thank us later -- don't be one of the "statistics" that is bankrupt before they ever see their 2 year anniversary!

[TchoSumr]

It sounds like my salon exactly. I'm in a new plaza with a total of 5 stores. The landlord wanted to supply the minimun to get the building ready. We had 200 amp, 3 phase service. I started with 3 beds and a stand-up. I added 2 more beds and needed 400 amp service. My electrician had to interface with the power company to bring in another service. In all it cost almost $8000 to the electrician and $23000 (to the power company) for the additional service to the plaza. Hope this helps.

[PatParadise]

There are different methods of leasing a space. Some lessors will include tenant finish-out in a lease if you agree to 5 years with a 5 year renewal. We have a triple net lease. We less than $9.00 a square foot. However we property tax and for all repairs and improvements. However, there are some retail stores that pay close to $40 a square foot. We did not even break even on cash flow until our fourth year so it is not money you can walk away from, PatParadise, (IMWW)