Intense competition blamed for closures at The Edit Super Salon

South Australia’s “largest private chain salon” has closed the doors at five locations across Adelaide — including Henley Beach and Norwood — as the company blames increased competition.

The Edit salon chain has closed in five locations.

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The state’s “largest private chain salon” has closed the doors at five locations across Adelaide after being forced to call in liquidators to wind up the lion’s share of its network.

The Edit Super Salon closed its St Agnes, Golden Grove, North Adelaide, Norwood and Henley Beach salons on Tuesday after appointing liquidator Tarquin Koch from Tarquin Koch Accounting and Insolvency Services to wind up operator Fresh Hair & Body Pty Ltd.

A separate entity in The Edit group will continue to operate three remaining salons at Mawson Lakes, Hyde Park and Gawler.

The Edit chief executive Leah Brunoli confirmed on Friday that approximately eight employees would be retained in subcontracting roles, while a similar number had lost their jobs as a result of the closures.

A number of those employees have told The Advertiser they’ve been left chasing unpaid entitlements, including unpaid superannuation dating back as far as two years.

Unpaid superannuation is one of the only entitlements not covered by the Federal Government’s Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme.

Mr Brunoli declined to comment on the employees’ claims, telling The Advertiser “I didn’t do the accounts myself”.

“We love our staff and we do our best to support them — it’s been an extremely hard time for them and for our mental health and for our remaining staff as well,” she said.

“We’re doing everything we can to protect the brand and the jobs of the employees that remain.”

Leah Brunoli in her North Adelaide Salon.

According to a blog post on the company’s website, Ms Brunoli established the salon network in 2008, holding the title of the state’s “largest private chain salon” since 2016.

However, she told The Advertiser that was no longer the case, after being forced into the closures as a result of heightened competition, particularly in hairdressing and styling services.

“There’s been a huge downturn in the market in the past year, a massive drop in sales over the past twelve months due to more competition,” she said.

“The market has become competitive — there's more access to social media, which gives our competitors free advertising and it makes a huge difference.

“It’s extremely heartbreaking and we are sincerely apologetic to previous employees who have been affected.”

The now-closed Norwood location.

In the blog post, which has since been removed from the company’s website, Ms Brunoli said closing the stores was “one of the hardest decisions I have ever made in my life” and that she continued to liaise with creditors and former employees.

“Our brand is still in high demand from our customers and is more innovative than ever — by restructuring the business in this manner, we believe, puts it in a prime position to continue to evolve,” the post said.

Mr Koch said he was in the process of assessing the extent of the company’s liabilities, and would not comment on whether Ms Brunoli’s continuing operation would be held liable for the debts and employee entitlements owed by Fresh Hair & Body Pty Ltd.