Excellent customer service, innovative marketing and top education for employees earned Teddie Kossof a Salon Today 200 Award.

The magazine’s twelfth annual Salon Today 200 profiled the selected salons in its January 2009 issue. The 200 salons were selected from applications submitted by Salon Today readers, who represent the 25,000 top-producing salons and spas in the country. The magazine honored the applicants who posted the highest increases in gross sales between 2006 and 2007.

“The twelfth annual issue of the Salon Today 200 features growing salons with excellent customer service, innovative marketing and top education for employees,” said Stacey Soble, editor-in-chief of Salon Today. “In an ever-challenging economic climate, the Salon Today 200 salons continue to grow by implementing the best business practices, providing a rewarding environment for their staff members and a standout experience for their clients.”

For a salon to be named to the Salon Today 200, it had to meet the following criteria:

1) The salon is a provider of professional salon services including one, or more, of the following: hair care, nail care, skin care, body care or spa treatments;

The Salon Today 200 features growing salons with excellent customer service, innovative marketing and top education for employees.

2) It generated gross annual sales revenues of at least $250,000;

3) The salon’s revenues were greater in 2007 than 2006;

4) The owner charted his or her business financial growth for the past three years and shared information about the service and product categories that fueled the salon’s growth;

5) The applicant submitted financial documentation, such as a tax return or certified letter from an accountant, to verify revenues.

Growth-oriented salons of every size and type participated and were showcased in the issue. To help the magazine’s readers benchmark their own businesses against the honorees, the Salon Today 200 coverage was broken down into four revenue categories: 27 were profiled in the $250,000 to $499,999 category; 55 were profiled in the $500,000 to $999,999 category; 69 were profiled in the $1 million to $1,999,999 category; and 49 in the $2 million-plus category.

Salon Today and its sister publications, Modern Salon and Renew, are published in Lincolnshire, IL, by Vance Publishing Corporation.