China's Middle Class Cuts Back on Beauty Salons

As China's economy remains sluggish, hundreds to thousands of beauty salons in developed regions like Zhejiang Province and Shanghai have seen a wave of closures and transfers—a sign of the broader decline in China’s service sector.

Members of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce told the Chinese edition of The Epoch Times that, under the impact of the economic downturn, middle-income families have become noticeably frugal in their budgets.

The beauty industry has long been regarded as one of the pillars of domestic demand for urban middle-class consumption. As a popular saying in China goes, “When the husband starts making money, the wife heads straight to the beauty salon.”

“When household income becomes unstable, the first thing families cut is beauty and personal-care services. Add to that widespread corporate layoffs, and many families are recalculating their budgets—anything seen as ‘optional,’ like beauty treatments, gets paused first,” Wang said.

“The pressure of rent, employee social insurance contributions, and taxes is mounting,” he said. “Many salon owners have told us that nowadays they need at least 2,000–3,000 yuan ($280–$420) in daily revenue just to break even.”

With fewer job opportunities, a declining housing market, and falling income expectations, many middle-class families have begun cutting back on non-essential spending such as beauty treatments and personal care.

Zhan, who has run a salon in Hangzhou for more than ten years, has felt this change acutely. She told The Epoch Times that the drop in customers this year has been particularly stark:

“In the past, it was normal for customers to come once a month; now even coming once every six months counts as loyal. Everyone is counting every penny—customers’ foot traffic just collapsed overnight.”

He, who imports Korean beauty products, shared the same experience, “Even my long-time regular customers have disappeared. This isn’t a problem for just one or two stores—the entire consumer mindset has changed.”

Shanghai and Hangzhou used to be home to large numbers of foreign companies, and some of the highest-income earners were He’s regulars. As foreign capital continues to withdraw from China, her high-paid white-collar clients have been dwindling.

“Previously, executives at foreign companies were willing to splurge—but now the foreign firms are leaving, and many of those people have left with them,” she said. “As for families earning 5,000 or 6,000 yuan ($700–$840) a month, they are under too much pressure to buy membership cards or renew them.”

The sudden closure of some salons, often without proper notice, has also caused hardship for customers.

In Beijing, Wang, a department head at a China Bank branch, said a salon she frequented in Haidian District abruptly shut down in early November:

“There wasn’t a notice on the door, nor had anyone warned us in advance. I had just renewed a yearly membership card worth 10,000 yuan ($1,400)—I was furious.”

She is now considering filing a formal complaint.