Customer Success Story
How Spoke & Weal Uses Boulevard to Bring the Energy of Fashion Week to Clients
- Locations
- 10
- Boulevard customer
- since 2018
- Industry
- Hair Salon
- Website
- Spoke & Weal
Key Takeaways
- Spoke & Weal, a 10-location premium salon chain across major U.S. cities, switched to Boulevard after years of cycling through platforms that couldn't match their elevated brand or handle multi-location consistency.
- Boulevard’s self-booking interface eliminated the glitches and double-booking issues that had caused “a lot of really unhappy clients” on previous platforms, with Thompson calling the guest booking experience “probably the number one thing we needed.”
- Client profiles travel with clients across all 10 locations, so a client visiting Spoke & Weal in San Francisco receives the same personalized experience they would in Nashville or New York.
- Boulevard’s on-brand design gave Spoke & Weal a modern, elegant interface on both the front and back end, creating booking and management processes that Thompson describes as “elevated and seamless.”
- Staff onboarding across locations became easier with Boulevard’s intuitive feature set. Dell Miller, Director of Training and Development, said Boulevard “helps trainees find those solutions for each of our sessions” and that onboarding new staff has been easy.
Introduction
Founder Christine Thompson opened Spoke & Weal in 2013 to disrupt the salon industry. Inspired by the dynamic energy and creativity of working Fashion Week in NYC, Thompson aimed to recreate that stylist-forward experience in her salons. Designed to look and feel like the backstage of a bustling show, Spoke & Weal gives its stylists the tools and space to create an individualized look for everyone who walks through the doors at any of its 10 locations. But as the brand scaled from one salon to ten, Thompson needed software that could match Spoke & Weal's elevated standard across every city.
Built for the long haul
- 10
- Salon locations across major U.S. cities
- 2018
- Year Spoke & Weal joined Boulevard
The Challenge: Finding Software as Elevated as the Salon Experience
As Spoke & Weal grew, Thompson needed “a software solution that was as deluxe as the service her business provided.” Other platforms “looked very dated,” and booking glitches and double-booking issues caused “a lot of really unhappy clients.” Keeping every salon running to the same standard meant finding software that matched the brand, not just one that worked.
The Solution: A Platform That Spoke Spoke & Weal's Language Across 10 Locations
Thompson discovered Boulevard and was immediately drawn in by its luxurious interface and robust functionality. “We used to switch platforms a lot because we were always unhappy with different things,” Thompson says. Boulevard's booking experience and its ability to create custom client profiles offered Spoke & Weal everything it needed to provide the best experience for clients while keeping operations running smoothly across all 10 locations. For the first time, the software matched the brand.
“There are so many things that I have to think about and worry about. Boulevard is not one of them because it does its job. I never even have to think about it.”
How We Helped
- Intuitive and easy booking interface
- Clients book at any of the 10 locations with just a few clicks. Thompson: “The guest booking experience was probably the number one thing we needed.” Online booking eliminated the glitches and double-booking issues from previous platforms that had caused “a lot of really unhappy clients.”
- Beautiful and on-brand design
- Boulevard’s modern interface matched Spoke & Weal’s elevated aesthetic on both front and back end. Thompson: “I felt like other software platforms looked very dated, so we wanted to be on brand visually.” The result is booking and management processes she describes as “elevated and seamless.”
- Consistent operations across locations
- All 10 locations “speak a universal language” through Boulevard. Whether a stylist works out of San Francisco or Nashville, they know what to expect from the platform. Client profiles travel with clients across locations, ensuring the same personalized treatment no matter which salon they visit.
- Easy staff onboarding
- Despite deep functionality, Boulevard is intuitive for new hires. Miller: “What we've enjoyed about Boulevard is that it helps trainees find those solutions for each of our sessions. It's been easy to onboard any of our new staff.”
- A platform that grows alongside them
- Boulevard constantly adds new features available to all customers. Miller: “If the solution’s not there, generally within the next couple of months, it’s gonna be there.” This responsiveness is why Spoke & Weal has stayed on Boulevard since 2018, ending their pattern of switching platforms.
