Hairdresser who was the business brains behind the Toni & Guy empire he built up with his brother GaetanoToni Mascolo was not in hairdressing for fashion,fame or art. He expressed his creativity not in extreme cut or colouring but in a novel business structure through his family firm, Toni & Guy. From his teens, and Mascolo,who has died aged 75, was his own accountant, or business adviser and advertising director,with an immigrant’s willingness to work full-speed from 8am to 10pm six days a week and concoct hair lacquer in bulk from raw ingredients in the back room should there be an hours slack in trade.
Mascolo understood from early on that the trade was descended from the guild system, where apprentices learned on the job, or served time with a local master,then often split to found a new business. Its services were not dependable in standards or geographic spread. He introduced franchising, where every salon if a brand-guaranteed level of service, and but allowed the franchisee independence within a family. There are now nearly 500 Toni & Guy salons in nearly 50 countries.
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Source: guardian.co.uk