Judging by the Premiere Birmingham Show, the recession is over

We saw the crowds back like in years before at this week-ends show in Birmingham. Special thanks to our great team who helped this to be the best Birmingham show ever. The Sister Twister was one of our best selling shears due to Cory Barnham's cutting classes.

This year we decided to have two separate booths rather than our usual 4 booth island. Gene's team at booth 2507 did not do as well as Mystie's booth at 724 on Sunday. However, on Monday, Gene's booth skunked the other booth. Special thanks to (I hope I don't leave out any names) Mystie and Jay Hunter, Ron Ellis, Harry and Tammy Megowan, Cory and Julie Barnham and their 3 children, Jim Lanier, Nikita Smith, Chuck Bigelow, Ted Powell and of course the whole management of the Premiere Shows. Click on the title to see all the photos I took at the show.

Las Vegas International Beauty Show

Here are some pictures from the show. Karen Showen sharpened for us and had people bring back additional shears after they tried out their shears. Nikita Smith cut my hair in class. She kept a room of 200+ enthralled for the full 90 minutes of class. Our best selling shears were the short curve, the Fishbone, our new T25 and T14. We are pretty tired and look forward to the flight home tomorrow. We miss our grandbabies. I will post the diagrams to Nikita's haircut on the website as soon as I get home. They are part of the slideshow here.

I sold a Twister Sister at the show to a gentleman from South Africa. Imagine his surprise when I told him we had a Bonika warranty center right there in his country and someone there who could sharpen them correctly. Unfortunately we couldn't say that to the lady from Guatemala. Maybe next year we will have a sharpener there. We plan to add a Spanish speaking country as a warranty center in October.

This was one of the loudest shows we have been in. The volume level was overwhelming. I think it affected our sales by 30%. We still did well enough we will be back next year.

International Twisters vs Twister Sisters

I received an email today from Mimi who writes:

Hello Bonnie, I purchased a pair of your international twisters last month and just noticed on your blog that you are discontinuing this style and coming out with the twister sister. I have not yet used the international twisters and am wondering if I would
prefer the new ones coming out (so am considering an exchange).
Could you tell me the difference between the two and why you are discontinuing the internationals? Thank you, Mimi C.

PS. Congratulations on the new baby!

My answer to Mimi was:

Hello Mimi,
Here's the scoop on the International Twister. We are no longer working with the American Factory that was making the International Twister. We have the Silk Twister which is very similar, but a little stiffer feel, but a hundred dollars less. They are very similar and we sell a lot more of the Silk Twister. When we decided to replace the International Twister we began looking at ways to make it more different and unique from the Silk Twister. We decided on a double swivel and renamed the shear to the Twister Sister. This shear is forged and similar steel as the old International Twister. We think the workmanship is a little better. Both the thumb and the finger swivel which allows a more comfortable point cutting positioning. It is easy to adjust the looseness of the swivel to customize the feel by using a simple screwdriver. Our research and test marketing seems to indicate this was a good decision because we sold a large number of the Twister Sisters at the recent Premiere Orlando show where we first introduced them.

If you would like to send your shears back and swap them, you can get full credit. The new Twister Sisters are $30.00 more. If you get them and wish you had the original Twisters again, we can swap them back again. Just be sure you put a note in with the return shears as to what you want.

Bonnie Megowan
Bonika Shears

Note: The Bonika Shears website is now functional. Sorry for the inconvenience. It was down for 24 hours of pure torture!

June Newsletter

We are mailing the newest newsletter. For those who did not get it, and for those who want a jump on the mail, this is the content of the newsletter.

Note: These prices are for our sharpeners / distributors. They are not for hair stylists unless they are selling our shears. If you are a stylist and wish to become a sharpener / distributor, please contact us. Prices subject to change without notice.

• Congratulations to Mystie & Jay Hunter on the birth of their new daughter, Brooke Anslee Hunter April 21, 2008. 8lbs
  She is fine, healthy, beautiful and sleeps through the night.
• Sharpeners Jam. See all the details at www.sharpenersjam.com Let us know if you are coming. BOOK YOUR ROOM EARLY! Call 770-476-2022 or 1-800-HOLIDAY and tell them you are with the Bonika Shears Sharpener's Seminar. The room rates are $79.00 per night. This is the only charge unless you are taking one of the small clinic classes. Currently there is room in all the classes, but register now because they filled up last year.
• New Shear ... Twister Sister
  Forged, quality Japanese steel with smooth rotating thumb and finger. This is an extremely comfortable shear and is ideal for point cutting, slithering and more. It will be debuted at the Premiere Orlando Show this year. Comes in 5”, 5.5” and 6” MSRP $410.00, Sale Price $329.00 Wholesale $165.00.
• International Lefty This is the same style with butterfly even handles as the old International Lefty with a couple of changes, the screw mechanism is still gold, but an improved style, the shear is cast 440C Japanese steel , it comes in 2 sizes now and the price dropped. 5.5” and 6.”, MSRP $249.00, Sale Price $199.00 Wholesale $99.50 (No price change on other International models)
• Shoto Thinner Due to the success of the Shoto, we now have a matching thinning shear. Limited number in stock. MSRP $1199.00 Sale $899.00 Wholesale $449.00
• BabylissPro Specials
  · Buy the most popular Nano Titanium Medium Iron and get the Forfex 653 Cordless Clipper Free. 6/box. $71.50 each.
  · Vacation Time! Babyliss Ceramic Travel Dryer Folds for storage. $11.00 each 6/box
  · NEW! BabylissPro 6” mini ceramic flat iron. Heats to 420◦ Only 1/2” wide, gets close to the scalp. #CT3050 Salon Price $29.99, Wholesale $16.50 each. 6 /box.
• Josh Freund of Chicago calls on a lot of nail salons. He gave us two tips. The nail nippers on closeout he found to be of a good quality but he was most impressed with the price. He says he buys them to sell as nippers or to use the parts if needed since the nippers cost the same as the springs alone. He also found the manicurists like the Sumo Shear Oil for cuticles. The Camilla Oil in our containers is pure enough to use on the skin and those in the know realize this oil packaged for skin care can cost many times more. Next time you use this oil, swipe some on your nail beds for smoother, healthier cuticles!
• Specials, New Items, Changes and Discontinued
  NEW! SUMO SHEAR OIL MSRP $5.00, Sale price $4.00. Wholesale $2.00each or 12 for $18.00.
  New! Nail Nipper Closeout Second quality, would have sold for $30.00 retail. $2.00 ea or 24 for $36.00
  NEW! Lefty Silk Twister with blue screw hardware 5 3/4” length #TW575J MSRP $250.00 Sale $199.00 Wholesale $99.50.
  Nika Shears NKLB45, NKLB5, NKLB55, NKLBT These are the only Nika Models 440C SUS Japanese steel, MSRP $122.00 Sale $98.00
  Discontinued Shears NK5, NK5.75, NKe5, NKe6, NKeL5, NKeL6, NK55.
  New EDT Scissors for Carpal Tunnel MSRP $400.00, Sale price $319.00 Wholesale $200.00. No discounts.
  Discontinued All International Twisters. All Prisms. We still have a supply but when they are gone, they are gone.
  Coming Soon! 25 Tooth Texturizer like the T14 Wisper and T7 Chopper. Super smooth and nice. Wholesale $99.00
  Shoto Special Orders. If your customer wants them, you can special order Shoto Lefty and Shoto Fishbone. Ask for payment in advance and tell them the wait may be several months since they are custom made.
  Change. Some Silk Twisters and Curve Shears have the beautiful blue hardware. All will be blue in the future.
  Change. The Cutlass Razor has been renamed the Silver Sword. Some stylists thought “Cutlass” meant it didn’t cut.
• New
  
  updated Nickel Brochure. We update this one every couple of months. At a nickel each you can afford to leave one behind with every customer. Slap your label over our company information for your own brochure. Order in quantities, we’ll print more!
  
  
  Reminder: Mail in your Shoto entries by July 1! Drawing will be at the Jam session. If your customer’s name is drawn and you are present, you will win a Shoto, too. If Gene Megowan’s customer is drawn he plans to donate his Shoto back to a second drawing among Bonika distributors present at the Jam session. So send in your entries and don’t miss the Sharpener's Jam!