Empires Rise, Fall, & Rise Again

By: Merilyn E. Ulrich,
Contributing Editor/Senior Staff Writer
The Hair Society

“Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; let fortune’s bubbles rise and fall’ Who sows a field, or trains a flower, or plants a tree is more than all.”

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t put Humpty together again!”

But enough of the quotes about empires falling and rising…..this is a true story about an empire that rose and fell in the real world…the world of Hair Restoration. A field that we all know well and perhaps, a story that we should all be interested in.

This is the story of National Hair Centers. For those of you who are not familiar with NHC, click here to learn more about the NHC history.

Since Lisa Zimmerman took over the business from her father Arnold Zimmerman, it was never quite the same. Lisa and Arnold had very different ways of running a business. Arnold was a keen business man who was constantly trying new marketing ideas and always was looking into new and innovative technologies for treating hair loss. He was very close with other hair restoration and replacement studio owners, and always gave of his time to anyone who asked.

At one point NHC was the largest family owned hair restoration center of its kind in North America. With a more competitive market led by digital marketing and more transparent information gathering, NHC’s business like many others began to take a hit. Transplant bookings fell off to almost none, as were clients who wear hair, the lasers were sitting idol and employees were leaving to rent their own chairs, and all the while NHC was losing its once dominant market share.

National Hair Centers, once known as a “giant” in the industry, had virtually become an unknown… outside of its current client base.

The light at the end of the tunnel for NHC are the brothers Sean and Tom Dirodis, both experts in hair loss, Jackie Yu of Hair Art Inc., a giant in the industry in his own right and Gene Gaspar, hair transplant consultant with Advanced Hair Transplants and NHC . Because of these individuals; NHC has a chance at once again being a leader in the industry.

We wish them every success and support their efforts in taking NHC back to the huge and important role that it once played in the hair restoration industry.