Beauty treatments with books in the heart of Bucharest

Iulia Tataru, owner of La Biblioteque Beauty Salon, has talked with BR about the challenges behind a beauty salon, especially when the number of beauty centers is continuously rising in the area. The beauty business is also expanding, while in their fourth year on the market, they have managed to obtain a turnover of over RON 1,000,000, without VAT, with the help of 25 employees, well-trained and also foreign languages speakers, especially English and Russian.

By Oana Vasiliu

Why the salon is called “La Biblioteque”?

We tried to combine the library concept with the bookstore concept, while our clients can buy or borrow the books we have here, everything being mix in a beauty salon, where while you are waiting for a beauty process, you can delight yourself with a book. We wanted to bring our business closer to culture. Also, this place was used for book launching event, photography or painting exhibitions, which makes the space friendlier for our clients. Of course, the idea isn’t necessarily new because are several places in Bucharest as well as worldwide where owners combine books with their business’s activities.

What are the services that La Biblioteque Beauty Salon offers?

We offer hairdresser and barber, manicure and pedicure, cosmetics and also massage and sauna, to delight our clients with spa services. For more than six months now, we tried to balance our services with corporal treatments, in order to give the clients more relaxation therapies, although a high demand remains for our refining and body sculpting treatments.

How much does a client spend in La Biblioteque?

For women clients spend almost RON 600, while the male clients spend on average RON 150 per month. The women are doing a facial treatment, manicure, pedicure, hair coloring and weekly hairstyling, here including also the shampooing wash. When it comes to male clients, they are using our services for hair cut, which is happening once every three weeks and sometimes they are doing their manicure.

Another type of clients is those who are using only the spa services, the massages and sauna, who make monthly subscriptions, where prices start from RON 500.

Which are the most borrowed books?

I can’t name specific titles, but I can say that the parental books are the most read here. The clients came here, skim our bookshelves and borrow the books they haven’t read yet.

When are you opening the café?

We intend to open a café in the backyard, a place where both clients and non-clients can enjoy a good tea, coffee, lemonade or can eat quiche, pies, salads, desserts, thanks to our partners from Omnivore’s Dilemma. Also, this will be a plus to the neighborhood, while no other terrace is opened here. We approximate the investment at about EUR 10,000.

What’s next for this beauty center?

Besides the summer café that we intend to open as soon as possible, we also want to buy the space we are currently using for the beauty center. For the ground floor and semi-basement, meaning 250 sqm, the investment raises up to EUR 500,000.