If you’ve never stepped inside “blow dry salon” Drybar, you might assume drinks were a standard part of the menu. After all, salons and barbershops have been offering drinks to customers for decades. In fact, the only Drybar to date that actually serves cocktails is in, surprise surprise, Las Vegas. Drinks or not, Drybar has seen its business explode — it’s on track to book $100 million in sales in 2016 per a report in Forbes. And with great success comes great power — to lobby. For what? Drinks, of course.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Drybar was among those supporting a vino-friendly bill that was just signed by California Gov. Jerry Brown:
The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, allows beauty salons and barbershops to serve up to 12 ounces of beer or six ounces of wine at no charge without a special license or permit.
The measure is the idea of Assemblyman Tom Daly (D-Anaheim), who said some of the state’s 41,830 beauty salons and barbershops already offer alcoholic beverages, but may not have a license from the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and could get in trouble.
The bill was supported by Drybar Holdings, which has 18 beauty salons in California, but has been told by state officials that it needs an alcohol license to serve spirits.
The law wasn’t without controversy. Back in August, Eater dug up some of the pre-Prohibition style arguments that were being trotted out against the bill:
Alcohol watchdog groups are busting out the old “Won’t someone please think of the children?” argument: A press release from the California Alcohol Policy Alliance quotes a 15-year-old who says, “A lot of kids come to barbershops and salons and this bill will allow easy access and it’s a bad example.”
It looks like sanity prevailed, as the bill is now law. Now that’s the kind of politics we can all raise a glass to!
