It's a ranking that suits the folklore of Cannes, its Film Festival, its five-star hotels, its conferences, its glitter and its sequins. Smappen, a start-up specializing in geomarketing (a technique that combines data analysis and cartographic representation), is interested in the hairdressing sector. And has drawn up a ranking of French municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants with the most salons on their territory. And guess what? Across France, Cannes is where people's hair is best! According to the start-up, the Cité des Festivals has one dedicated establishment for 286 inhabitants (for comparison, Vichy, in Allier, ranks 2nd with 1 hairdresser for 313 inhabitants, and Dax, in Landes, completes the podium with 1 hairdresser for 328 inhabitants).
International conferences, palaces and tourism
At the departmental level, Mandelieu-la-Napoule ranks 7th (1 hairdresser for 356 inhabitants, ahead of Vallauris (12th, 1 hairdresser for 372 inhabitants), Menton (13th, 1 hairdresser for 378 inhabitants), Antibes (16th, 1 hairdresser for 397 inhabitants), Le Cannet (23rd, 1 hairdresser for 405 inhabitants), Saint-Laurent-du-Var (31st, 1 hairdresser for 424 inhabitants), Nice (32nd, 1 hairdresser for 426 inhabitants) and Cagnes (46th, 1 hairdresser for 441 inhabitants).
For Michel Tricart, president of the National Union of Hairdressing Companies of the Alpes-Maritimes, there are several reasons for this. But they all share the city's internationally recognized prestige. “There are many large hotels, for example, which attract a certain clientele. This is not comparable with a more popular city like Nice, for example. In Cannes, just the Fif attracts a lot of people with financial means that you don't see everywhere. People come to get their hair done before going to gala evenings, shows or professional meetings. In Cannes, the average price for a blow dry is around 80 euros. In Antibes, for comparison, it's more like 40 or 45 euros. But my clientele is not the same. In Cannes, we're talking about people who can spend 400 euros for a night in a hotel. purchase, on average, is not the same.”
However, do the people of Cannes really have better hair? Not necessarily, puts into perspective Françoise Darcos, a retired hairdresser who worked for several decades on Boulevard Carnot. “It doesn't surprise me that there are so many trade shows in Cannes, we find them on every street corner. Many professionals have always said that Cannes is the ideal place to generate turnover. However, that doesn't mean that your hair is better, even if you go to high-end salons.”
“In Cannes, it’s important to be beautiful”
For several years now, among these hairdressing salons, there have been an increasing number of barbers. In other words, salons for men. Laurent Briard, originally from Normandy, arrived in Cannes 25 years ago and opened his own establishment a few years later: Barb'hair. “One thing is certain, Cannes is a city with a lot of people passing through. And it is one of the cities with the most international conferences. I very often take care of men who have, for example, forgotten their razor and must be impeccable during a professional meeting And then, it's Cannes. It's important to be beautiful and elegant. It's a city that has a reputation and shines all over the world.
