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Barbers at the gate; QB House.(Japanese barber shop chain)
- Article from:
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The Economist (US)
- Article date:
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November 4, 2006
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Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2006 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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An Asian chain of cut-price hairdressers wants to offer more
THE stylist goes at you with all the gusto of a husband with a new lawn strimmer, but then QB House's boss, Kazutaka Iwai, says he always tells his staff that the barbershop chain's product is "not a haircut, but a shorter period of time". This correspondent's preternaturally threadbare head is not the best site to test the stylist's skills, yet the buzzcut seemed to sharpen his looks up well enough. And he was in and out of that barber's shop in nine minutes flat.
QB ("Quick Barber") House, founded in Japan nearly a decade ago, is a business that has thrived in a climate of falling prices. A typical Tokyo ...