FX Studios is located in a nondescript
Hunt Valley business park, just a few blocks off York Road. It's
only when you walk through the deeply tinted glass doors into the
semidarkness of the reception area of a cavernous,
11,000-square-foot facility with 14-foot ceilings that things begin
to feel a bit out of the ordinary.
Standing behind slender podiums, waiting to welcome guests „
which is what FX staffers prefer to call customers „ and take
reservations are three receptionists in matching black slacks and
polo shirts adorned with the FX logo. Each guest is given a remote
pager, then is quietly ushered to one of several waiting areas.
Guests can choose to sit in any of several well-appointed lounges
equipped with comfortable chairs and sofas, digital TVs and both
wireless and wired Internet hookups. Those who prefer theÊbig-
screen experience can relax in one of three spacious, digital
cinemas.
There, they can sip a complimentary beer, coffee, tea, soda,
sparkling water or wine while reclining in a ridiculously
largeÊleather recliner and take in a movie or watch cable TV on a
state-of-the-art, 16-foot digital screen with "ultra high-fidelity"
surround sound.
"These are the same digital systems that are used in Hollywood
studio screening rooms," FX Studios founder and president David
Behan explained as he led a visitor on a recent tour.
FX Studios, with all itsÊdigital and electronic bells and
whistles „ the four digital cinemas, 31 LCD screens, 132 speakers
and the seven servers and 22 miles of cable it takes to run them „
is more than just a futuristic version of your local multiscreen
mall cinema.
It's first and foremost a full-service men's and women's hair,
skin and body-care salon.
The million dollars' worth of techno-gear is merely there to
transform the monthly ritual of getting your hair cut from an
exercise in drudgery to an unforgettable experience.
"The idea for this started brewing about seven years ago," said
Behan, 36, who is also president of Dunleary Inc., a Towson-based,
$37 million-a-year chemical distribution company founded by his
father, who is also a partner in FX Studios.
The concept is taking the local corner barbershop and making it
more upscale and high-tech.
"The whole idea is really just to have a place for people to come
and relax and have a good experience that will make them look
forward to their next haircut," said Behan, who grew up in Harford
County, earned a master's degree at Loyola and lives in Monkton with
his wife and two children.
Hidden away in the spacious, soothingly quiet labyrinth of
darkened corridors at FX Studios are 19 individual hair "studios,"
where you can sit in secluded splendor in a specially designed,
ergonomically correct chair with a prime view of one of the big
screens.
You can watch a movie while you are having your hair or beard
trimmed, straightened, curled, shampooed or colored, or while
undergoing a more involved procedure like a scalp massage. There are
also 11 individual "aesthetic wellness" centers, where you can go
for a body or facial massage and other sorts of therapeutic
makeovers, includingÊyoga sessions.
Additionally, several cubicles are designed for advanced hand,
foot, nail and cuticle treatments, including trimming and polishing,
skin exfoliation and foot massages. There's also a shoeshine
station.
While you are getting your makeover, "floating hostesses"Ê check
in from time to time to see if you need your beer, wine or sparkling
water freshened.
FX Studios is the fulfillment of a highly calculated,
seven-figure gamble that a sufficient number of people will pay $25
and up to get their hair trimmed or their nails manicured in this
exotically futuristic setting.
"After seeing home theater technology evolve, I thought there
must be a better way of providing what really is a life necessity: a
haircut," Behan said.
"This is well over a $1 million investment „ I'll leave it at
that," he added.
Behan called the place a "nightmare" and a "full- fledged
challenge" to build but also loads of fun.
"There's nothing else like this in the country, which is a good
thing and a bad thing, I guess," he said.
While FX Studios is a long way from breaking even, according to
Behan, it did beat its first month's sales forecast.
Behan recalled that he and George Welsh, 40,Êthe vice president
of management at FX, who is also a partner in the company, sketched
out the initial design for their salon on a cocktail napkin.
They began construction in December and finished in time for a
"soft opening" in June.
"We probably could have done it for half the money, in half the
time," said Welsh,Êa Pennsylvania native and Towson resident with an
advanced degree in mathematics from the University of Maryland,
College Park.Ê"But it would have been only half as good."
Getting the works, or even the basics, at FX Studios is not
cheap, compared with getting a quick trim at the corner barber or
doing it yourself with a soup bowl and a pair of dog shears.
Beyond the basic $25 trim, a French pedicure, for example, is
$44, while body hair removal runs $50 and up, according to the FX
Studios Web site, www.fxstudios.com.
But Behan insists FX "was not built to be a high-end shop for
lawyers and professionals."
"Certainly, we have lawyers and doctors and very wealthy
entrepreneurs, but we also have retirees, students, plumbers,
housewives, working moms „ people from 13 years old to 70," he said.
While FX Studios was designed for men, women have been showing up
in increasing numbers.
Only recently has Behan started advertising extensively,
preferring to get his staff up and running and working out all the
electronic glitches.
He laughs when recalling how he recently ran into someone at the
Turf Valley Inn who told him he'd heard about FX Studios but thought
the place was "a myth."
"I told him, 'No, we really exist,'" Behan said with a grin. "The
reality is that I'm just an entrepreneurial startup out here in the
middle of nowhere."
E-mail Bob Allen at ballen@patuxent.com.
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