Haircut Prices Surge Past Comfortable Levels; Unexpected Region Records Highest Rates

[Anchor]

It is time for Friendly Economy with reporter Han Jiyeon. Han, today, on August 11, we are looking at statistics on haircut costs.

[Reporter]

The average price for a men's haircut in Seoul has surpassed 13,000 won, marking a 5.5% increase over the past year.

Men reportedly spend over 80,000 won a month if they get a haircut every month along with a side down perm. It is quite a burden.

Some university students say they have stretched out their visits from once a month to once every two months.

There are even those who say, "I only go when my hair gets really messy."

The feeling that prices are up is confirmed by the numbers.

There were also differences across neighborhoods.

Based on men's haircuts, the most expensive area in the country is unexpectedly not Seoul, but Gangwon Province, which has a high military population.

The average there exceeded 16,000 won.

South Jeolla Province, Daejeon, and Gwangju also hit the mid-15,000 won range.

Women's haircuts are even more expensive.

In Seoul, the average cost for a women's haircut exceeded 24,000 won, up 3.3% from a year ago.

Women watching this right now are probably thinking, "That's all it costs?"

I also have to pay 45,000 won when I get my hair cut by the head stylist at the hair salon in front of my office.

In Gangnam, it is not difficult to find places charging over 100,000 won.

However, these statistics do not average out all the actual amounts paid by consumers; instead, they compile the cost of a single women's haircut at surveyed salons.

It is difficult to confirm from the public data alone how different rates by job title, such as head stylists or associate stylists, are reflected.

Therefore, there seems to be a gap between the statistical average and the prices felt by consumers.

[Anchor]

Have the costs of consumables like shampoo and hair dye also risen significantly?

[Reporter]

This is also because of the Middle East war.

As naphtha prices rose due to the Middle East war, the cost burden for hair salon consumables has gone up across the board.

Because of this recent Middle East war, you must have heard the word naphtha endlessly.

It is a material extracted during crude oil refining and is used as a raw material for making plastics.

So, the containers holding shampoos and treatments are all made of plastic, meaning they are affected by naphtha prices.

In addition, some surfactant ingredients that create the cleansing power of shampoo also come from this naphtha family.

Consequently, they are directly affected by rising crude oil prices.

On top of this, familiar factors like labor costs and store rent have continued to rise.

There is not just one or two factors driving up hair salon prices.

With the situation like this, self-haircare continues to attract attention, with videos on cutting one's own hair steadily being uploaded to social media, and cost-effective hair salons are also widely sought after.

One men-only hair salon chain priced in the 10,000-won range saw its operating profit jump 47% last year compared to the previous year, opening 15 new branches this year alone.

[Anchor]

Lastly, parking robots look truly fascinating.

[Reporter]

If you look at the footage, thin, flat-shaped parking robots lift vehicles up and move them.

Just like you see on the screen now, right when you think a car has parked neatly, two flat boards—meaning thin and wide parking robots—slide smoothly out from under the car.

They are only 11 centimeters thick, about the height of a single cola can.

As soon as they get under the car, sensors scan the positions of the wheels, and they lift the entire car up and move it.

Hyundai Motor Group is launching a project to actually deploy these robots at an apartment complex in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province.

They can lift up to 3.4 tons, even accommodating large SUVs.

Drivers simply park their cars in designated spots and make a call using a kiosk or wall pad.

This time, operating two robots across 53 parking spaces on the first basement level, they plan to thoroughly measure vehicle entry and exit times per car, user waiting times, and parking success rates.

Such robots were first introduced at Factorial Seongsu, an office building in Seongdong-gu.

This is the first time they are being applied to multi-unit housing like apartments.

This makes it possible to increase parking capacity by a minimum of 20% and up to 50% in the same area.

If this pilot project settles in well, the days of driving around in circles searching for an empty parking spot may soon become a thing of the past.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.