THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 28, 1995 TAG: 9506270126
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Carl Mullin Jr. always knew he wanted his own business. He figured it'd be something in the field of tools and woodworking, since that was a hobby of his.
He never imagined he'd be teaching people about skin care and cosmetics alongside his wife, Peggy Noga Mullin, but he is and he's enjoying it.
Together, the couple, who are both 45, own and run a Merle Norman Cosmetics Studio on North Mall Drive.
Peggy Mullin operates the business on a day-to-day basis and Carl Mullin, who works full time with a local telephone company, helps out on Saturdays and after-hours with the bookkeeping and other paperwork.
``They call me the `Merle Norman express man,' '' he said, chuckling. ``I can help anybody with skin care but when it come to color, I quit.''
Merle Norman is a franchise with several other Hampton Roads locations. Each studio sets its own prices and can offer other lines of cosmetics and skin care. The Mullins offer only Merle Norman products but have extended their services to include facials, free make-overs, color analysis, nail services, waxing and ear piercing.
Every type of cosmetic, from blush to eyebrow pencils, is also sold out of the studio.
A customer information card is kept on file, both on paper and on computer disc, so that the Mullins can easily look up what color suits a person best or what product most fits his or her lifestyle.
Amelia Spiotta has been a Merle Norman customer for a long time and has shopped at the Mullins' studio for a couple of years.
On a recent weekday, she popped into the studio to get her ``eyes done.''
Peggy Mullin pulled out her information card and was able to pick the exact shade of eye shadow that Spiotta likes the best.
``I spoil myself all the time,'' said Spiotta, who, on this day, was meeting her husband to celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary. ``I love these products and I've been using them since I was 26 or 27.''
Up to 60 percent of the Mullin's business is return customers, and their customer base has grown by about 50 percent this year alone, said Carl Mullin, who attributes the rise to improved customer service.
``We're constantly trying to find out just what it is the customer wants,'' said Mullin, who recently held two customer focus groups to discuss the favorable or not so favorable points of the business. ``One concern that came up during the group was sanitation. We kept hearing that over and over again. Therefore, we take great pains making sure the place stays clean.''
They have owned the Lynnhaven-area studio for four years. They bought it from a woman who previously owned the studio in Lynnhaven Mall. Three weeks after they bought the franchise, they moved it to the Lynnhaven North Shopping Center.
When the couple decided to move the businesses location, they also lost the customer base the previous owner had acquired in the mall. That meant building the business from scratch, something they hadn't planned on with buying a ``used'' franchise.
``We were here four months and realized we just bought a new business whether we liked it or not,'' said Carl Mullin, who lives with his wife in the Windsor Woods neighborhood.
The Mullins decided the only way to turn the tide in their favor was to concentrate on servicing their new customers. Thank you notes go out to customers regularly.
And, if a customer's kept waiting for any reason, the person gets a free paraffin hand treatment, a combination of oil and hot wax that leaves the hands feeling baby-soft.
Peggy Mullin has held a variety of positions over the years. She came to work part time in the Lynnhaven Mall studio because she had experience in cosmetics. The couple also previously sold Amway products.
``She came home one day and said the studio's for sale,'' said Carl Mullin. ``I said, `Yeah, right.' At the time, we were paying for our son to go to art school in New York City and Peggy hadn't held a full-time job in months.
``But she really thought she could do it and I thought she could do it. We just wondered if we could make money doing it.''
``When we're busy I'm always up,'' said Peggy Mullin. ``There have been a lot more `ups' this year. What makes it worthwhile is when you do a makeover and you see that you've made someone feel really good. That's the thing I like most about this business.
``As far as Carl, he thought it was going to be a tool and woodworking shop venture. Now, instead of finishing wood, he's finishing faces!'' she said and laughed. MEMO: The Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday
through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. The studio is closed
Sunday. The phone number is 463-2846. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Carl and Peggy Mullin have owned and operated a Merle Norman
Cosmetics Studio on North Mall Drive in Lynnhaven for four years.
``What makes it worthwhile is when you do a makeover and you see
that you've made someone feel really good,'' says Peggy Mullin.
by CNB