Salon Owner Becomes Groupon Groupie

Robi-Ann Medeiros is jumping on the Groupon bandwagon.

Medeiros owns Ciao Bella Salon at 68 Maple Ave. She decided to try running a special on Groupon, the popular deal-of-the-day website that localizes ads for geographic markets.

“Forty people bought the deal,” said Medeiros, who offered 54 percent off on a Keratin hair straightening treatment or a full foil and color. The ad ran on Sunday, Jan. 30, as The Daily Deal for Providence.

“That’s 40 new faces,” she said. “It was more about getting people in the door for me.”

Her ad ran on Groupon for two days, the first day as a main deal, the second day as a secondary deal. Besides Barrington, her new customers came from as far away as Providence and Bristol and as close as Warren.

"I was a little concerned about getting overwhelmed," said Medeiros, who had heard that some restaurants in Providence get 400-500 people taking the deal.

"I could handle the response I got," she said.

Medeiros said creating the ad online was a cinch as well.

“They do everything for you,” she said.

At least 10 people must sign up for the offer for the deal to become available to everyone, according to Groupon’s policy. So Ciao Bella Salon went well past the minimum. And the coupons are good for up to a year.

“I even honored the deal if they didn’t bring in the coupon,” she said.

If there is a downside, Medeiros said, it’s that “you can only do three deals a year, no more than that.”

That condition won’t push her off the Groupon bandwagon.