The Root Salon in Phoenix, Arizona owned by Lauren Hart and Samuel Sciotto recently was named to the Salon Today 200 by Salon Today magazine, the top business publication for salon and spa owners.

The magazine’s 18th annual Salon Today 200 issue profiled the selected salons in its January 2015 edition. The 200 salons were honored for their best business practices from applications submitted by Salon Today readers, who represent the 20,000 top-producing salons and spas in the country.

The magazine honored applicants in 11 different best practice categories, including Advanced Education, Compensation & Benefits, Customer Service, Environmental Sustainability, Philanthropy, Planned Profitability, Recruitment & Training, Retail & Merchandising, Retention & Referral Programs, Technology and Growth. The Root Salon was honored in the following: Growth, Customer Service, Technology

“Our editors recognize that strong business leadership requires the mastery of a number of different best business practices,” said Stacey Soble, editor-in-chief of Salon Today. “The salons named to the Salon Today 200 for 2015 not only proved they excel in one or more of these areas, they also have created rewarding environments for their staff members and standout experiences for their clients. Their willingness to share their success offers our readers important business benchmarks and inspirational sales-building ideas.”

For a salon to be named to the Salon Today 200, it had to meet the following criteria: 1) The salon or spa opened on or before January 1, 2012. 2) 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; 3) The salon or spa generated annual service and product sales revenues of at least $250,000 per year since 2012; 4) The owner provided statistical information about his or her business and completed at least one of the Best Practice category essay sections; and 5) The applicant submitted documentation to verify financials if he or she competed in the growth or planned profitability categories.

In the commemorative January/February 2015 issue, Salon Today profiled 200 individual salons, although these salons could be honored in more than one category. The 2015 Salon Today 200 honored 100 salons in Growth; 29 salons in Advanced Education; 32 salons in Compensation & Benefits; 30 salons in Customer Service; 17 salons in Environmental Sustainability; 18 salons in Philanthropy; 18 salons in Planned Profitability; 30 salons in Recruitment and Training; 31 salons Retail & Merchandising; 23 salons in Retention & Referral Programs; and 29 salons in Technology.