Hair on wheels - Mobile store launched in Ocho Rios

OCHO RIOS, St Ann:

Thanks to the entrepreneurial spirit of sisters Alluwanna Vernon and Jennifer Vernon-Jarrett, Jamaica now has a hair-delivery business, appropriately registered as Mobile Hair.

Mobile Hair is a store on wheels, a Toyota Coaster bus actually, that follows a schedule which sees it travelling to major towns across Jamaica, bringing hair extensions, wigs and other products closer to clients.

The buying experience can get even closer, as clients may order products and have the items delivered anywhere in Jamaica.

While the company specialises in human hair, synthetic hair is also available and in a variety of styles.

Although the bus has been on the road for a while, following a schedule that takes it to major towns across Jamaica, the official launch recently took place at Rooms on the Beach in Ocho Rios.

ALL FOR CONVENIENCE

The launch was actually a project of students completing the degree course in hospitality and tourism management at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and was well executed.

"The company's vision is simply to provide hair solutions at customer's convenience," explained Alluwanna Vernon, marketing director.

"And so we have a schedule where we take the bus to different locations and different parishes. Also, persons can find us on social media [where they can], place their order. We will do the delivery."

Vernon said since the store has been on the road, the support has been overwhelming, but more needs to be done to get the name Mobile Hair to become a household name.

"So next year, we'll be doing some aggressive marketing to highlight Mobile Hair and what it is that we offer and the convenience in terms of the services that we provide, taking the hair to you."

Jennifer Vernon-Jarrett, a student of the UWI class, is the company's operations manager. According to her, Jamaicans are warming to the new experience.

"This is new to Jamaica, it is quite an experience for the customer and they love it; not just buying the hair, but where they buy it. When they go on the bus, it's like a tour for them. They just enjoy being in a bus that is a store," Vernon-Jarrett explained.

Meanwhile, National Commercial Bank branch manager for St Ann's Bay, Donovan Reid, who spoke at the launch, lauded the sisters for their insight and for being entrepreneurs.

"Being an entrepreneur is the way to achieve your fullest potential, because what you can achieve as an entrepreneur, it's difficult to achieve as an employee," Reid pointed out.

At the same time, he warned that exercising wise business practices was crucial for entrepreneurs, as 90 per cent of new businesses fail because of bad management.

Mobile Hair's schedule from Tuesdays to Saturdays includes Savanna-la-Mar, Falmouth, Brown's Town, Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, respectively,

rural@gleanerjm.com