Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Mantra Hair Care builds a winning formula

When Jeff Klominek started Mantra Hair Care Products in 2005, his goal was more than to create shampoos, conditioners and styling agents that smelled great and worked well. He also wanted to establish a line of products that would not wind up on the shelves of bargain stores and discount salon chains. In other words, he wanted Mantra’s professional products to remain professional.

Klominek was very familiar with the term diversion, which refers to professional salon products being sold to other stores at discount prices, thus watering down their status as preferred salon products. His family has owned North Coast Salon Systems, a beauty care distributorship in Northeast Ohio, for about 75 years. Klominek witnessed firsthand the havoc that diversion could wreak on a business.

“There wasn’t any security,” Klominek says. “Bigger distributors would take over, and products would end up on drugstore shelves.” He says that North Coast Salon Systems sometimes lost large portions of its business because of diversion practices.

Klominek decided to take matters into his own hands and start his own line of hair care products. “My family thought I was crazy,” he recalls, but Klominek remained undeterred.

Teaming up with Jim Vlasik, formerly of Aveda, Klominek devised six botanical-infused products and introduced them to the Northeast Ohio market four years ago. Today, Mantra boasts 29 products and has a presence in 31 states around the country. The line features items like Serenity, a shampoo enriched with chamomile, hydrolyzed wheat protein and vitamins A, C and E; and Affirmative, a finishing spray infused with kukui nut oil.

The names sound pretty, but the Mantra line has more than that going for it. All of the hair care items are nationally certified organic, according to Klominek. They are also affordably priced. “People just aren’t spending $25 for a bottle of shampoo anymore,” Klominek says.

As president and CEO, Klominek has gone out of his way to ensure that Mantra bottles don’t become the victim of 2-for-1 specials at CVS. The bottles do not have bar codes so they can’t be scanned at checkouts. Also, Mantra has established a network of distributors that exclusively promotes its brand. Distributors selected by Mantra must hold educational events each year in partnership with Mantra. “We’ve tried to make education the focus of our business,” Klominek says.

To that end, Mantra conducts intimate academies for small groups of member salons to demonstrate the latest trends and styles and to encourage communication between salon professionals and customers. Larger style shows are held in the 16,000-square-foot theater at Mantra’s national headquarters in Broadview Heights.

As it looks to expand nationally and into Canada, Mantra Hair Care remains close to its roots (pardon the pun). “Northeast Ohio is probably where we have our most concentrated effort,” Klominek says. “We really involve the local salons. Some of them test products for us.”

Klominek’s goal is to grow Mantra—but not too much. “We want to get as big as we possibly can and still be independent,” he says. In other words, Klominek hopes to build volume without losing manageability.

To learn more, visit http://www.WhatsYourMantra.com.

Diane DiPiero is always on the lookout for interesting people and organizations that make Cleveland great. Her work has appeared in the Plain Dealer, Cleveland Magazine, Cleveland Business Connects, Crain's Cleveland Business and other local and national publications. Diane recently started Brand It Write, a company that creates web content, newsletters, press releases and other written communications materials for small businesses. A native of Youngstown, she blogs about the Cleveland and Youngstown areas at http://www.asiwaswriting.blogspot.com. Diane is a mother of three and is writing a novel in her precious spare time.