L'Oréal supports the reopening of hair salons in Canada

MONTREAL, May 14, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - L'Oréal, a historic partner of hairdressers for more than 110 years, is reinforcing its support for industry professionals during the unprecedented Covid-19 period.

Alongside the hairdressing industry, L'Oréal is mobilised to help hairdressers reopen their salons, as soon as local authorities permit it. The objective is to open salons in the safest conditions possible by contributing to the supply of purifying cleansing gels and protective masks, and by providing concrete hygiene guidelines for operating post-confinement.

L'Oréal will provide salons with 8.5 million protective masks in Europe and 20 million in the United States, and will make sure masks are made available in all countries, including Canada. Furthermore, 3.5 million units of purifying cleansing gel, currently being produced in the group's factories, are destined for hair salons around the world.

In Canada, L'Oréal Canada is making available 1 million protective masks and 150,000 bottles of purifying cleansing gels, some of which will be donated, to salons to help with their reopening. All salons that wish to order additional hygiene products may do so by ordering via L'Oréal Partner Shop (https://www.lorealpartnershop.com/home) as soon as they reopen for business.

The guidelines for operating a hair salon post-confinement, in line with those proposed by the Allied Beauty Association ("ABA"), include hand cleansing, tool disinfecting,  salon routing, pre-booking, reorganisation of salons to space out appointments and electronic payment, all so as to ensure the social distancing requirements. These guidelines are now available to all hairdressers or industry members, L'Oréal Canada partners or not, on the following Brand websites: Redken, Matrix, L'Oréal Professionnel, Kérastase, Pureology. 

As part of its COVID-19 Solidarity Plan, which includes the donation of hand sanitizers to hospitals, front line healthcare professionals and women's shelters across Canada, L'Oréal Canada has introduced several measures to support hairdressers:

• Payment freeze: Since March 24^th, L'Oréal Canada has frozen payments due for all orders made before this date. A payment plan will be put in place once the salons will be able to reopen.
• E-learning training for hairdressers: The L'Oréal Professional Products Division in Canada has been providing extensive online learning to hairdressers on local social media channels, in order to help upskill them while their businesses are temporarily closed. Hairdressers have also been regularly featured on social media channels in order to help them maintain their important connection with consumers.

Mr. Quoc Chay, President, L'Oréal Professional Products Division in Canada says: "The L'Oréal Professional Division in Canada has over 50 000 hairdresser partners operating in 11 000 hair salons. As a committed partner to the industry, we are strongly mobilised to help them navigate through these challenging times with the primary objective of ensuring the safety of our partners, their employees and consumers, just as L'Oréal Canada is doing for theirs and thus reducing the impact on salon and distributor businesses."

About L'Oréal Canada
L'Oréal Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of L'Oréal Group, the largest cosmetics company in the world. Headquartered in Montreal, the company had sales of $1.2 billion in 2019 and employs more than 1,450 people. The company holds a portfolio of 37 brands, encompassing all aspects of beauty, and is present across all distribution networks: mass market, department stores, salons, pharmacies, drugstores, and branded retail. L'Oréal Canada, whose operations are carbon neutral, supports the L'Oréal Foundation's programs such as L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science, which has promoted the advancement of women in science in Canada since 2003, Beauty for a Better Life, a social reintegration program in hairdressing for immigrant women since 2017, and the recently launched Women in Digital support program.

SOURCE L'Oréal Canada Inc.