The hairstylist leaned over actress-model Samantha Diane, clipped in a blond hair extension and created a do dazzling enough for any red carpet.
It was just so. Just right. And on the money at Blo Blow Dry Bar in Hollywood days before today’s 59th annual Grammy Awards.
As bubbly clients sipped champagne and pop music blared in the background, business was booming.
After all, it’s awards season, the salon’s busiest time of the year, said hairstylist Caylee Gutting.
“We are booked solid with pre-parties and the day of the shows, doing hair and makeup for women who need to get ready for their events,” explained Gutting over the hum of blow dryers mixed in with the sound of laughter. “It’s a bit chaotic.”
• RELATED PHOTOS: LA gets ready for the Grammy Awards
With the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards behind us, the Grammys upon us and the Academy Awards just around the corner, awards season pumps hundreds of millions of dollars into the Los Angeles County economy.
That means bank for the show venues, hotels and restaurants that directly benefit from the months-long celebration of the stars, economists say. Millions more dollars flow into a legion of hair salons, clothing stores, flower shops, catering companies, and limousine and taxi services.
Between the Grammys, Oscars and Emmys, nearly $500 million rains down on local businesses and into local government tax coffers each year, according to recent studies. While the Academy Awards bring in $67 million, the Emmys command $43 million.
But the Grammy Awards are the Godzilla, fetching at least $82 million in direct benefits, according to a 2015 report by L.A.-based economic research and consulting firm Micronomics.
And that doesn’t include the more than $100 million in other spending, such as tourism from television viewers who book trips to Southern California as a result of the show.
“The music industry is an integral thread in L.A.’s economic fabric,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, in a statement. “But the biggest winner is never a single individual — it’s our local economy, which benefits from the year-round activity of L.A.’s booming record industry.”
• RELATED STORY: Grammy Awards eye LA exit, with a New York state of mind
But with the Recording Academy that runs the nation’s most prestigious music awards show prepared to likely pull up stakes next year for New York, the region may suffer a nearly $200 million dent.
At least until 2019, when the Grammys are expected to return to Los Angeles, which can produce the show for $2 million less, according to The New York Times.
The Recording Academy is expected to announce the New York move after this weekend’s show.
Next year, Staples Center — where the Grammys have been held since 2004 — will host the 2018 NBA All-Star Game instead.
“If we had to pick a year for the Grammys to go to New York, or anywhere else, 2018 would be the best year for us because of these events we already have booked,” said Kathryn S. Schloessman, president of the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, in an email.
This past week, the likes of Lady Gaga, John Legend, Adele, Beyoncé and Bruno Mars converged on Los Angeles to attend or perform in the 3½-hour show hosted by CBS late-night host James Corden. More than 28 million are expected to watch the telecast.
• RELATED VIDEO: James Corden helps roll out the red carpet for Grammy Awards
Of the thousands lucky enough to pack the blue-lit Staples Center, nearly three-quarters of them will be from out of town, according to the Micronomics report. Joining the stars will be a legion of music executives, publicists and entertainment journalists.
About 10 percent of Grammy attendees rent limos, adding up to $1.1 million.
Roughly half the award show attendees are women, who shell out more than $2 million on hairdos and duds. That includes $859,000 on gowns, $430,000 on handbags and $430,000 on shoes. Hair styling costs another $591,000.
While direct spending from awards shows is big, the indirect spending by fans and tourists can be even bigger, said economist Roy Weinstein, author of the economic impact reports of the Grammys, Oscars and Emmys on Los Angeles County.
If just a smidgen of the millions who tune in to the Grammys visit Los Angeles for four days as result, he said, the indirect windfall could be another $106 million.
“The award shows are iconic for Southern California,” said Weinstein, founder of Micronomics. “The Oscars. The Grammys. The Rose Parade. The rest of the nation identifies (the region) with those events — happy, celebratory, where people look beautiful … the economic benefits are huge.”
One business that benefits is Jimmy Au’s For Men 5’8” and Under, a clothing store for shorter men that caters to the awards show crowd.
Once located in Beverly Hills, it’s now based in Sherman Oaks, where it draws well-heeled clients, free of pesky paparazzi who often camped out near the old location.
On Tuesday, the store’s vice president smoothed out off-the-rack tuxes for award show attendees that sell for as much as $2,000.
“Awards season is very important because we take care of a lot of people in the entertainment industry; it is a decent percentage of our business” said Alan Au, whose family business employs nine people and whose customers include Jason Alexander and Danny DeVito.
According to Au, his clients tend to wear something different to each event.
“They have dinner engagements that are related to these awards shows, too,” he said. “These are all opportunities for us to sell them clothes — so they have something nice to wear. And spread the word out about what we do.”
Meanwhile, downtown on a recent day, a small army of plumbers, carpenters, caterers, security guards and Recording Academy producers converged on the Staples Center to prepare for the music extravaganza.
Inside, they rehearsed segments for the show. Outside, a scrum of entertainment media mobbed Recording Academy executives for quotes while workers adjusted lights along a red carpet that spanned a city block.
It was there that a contract electrician grumbled about New York stealing away next year’s Grammys, while robbing paychecks in Los Angeles.
“I would have fought a little harder to keep it here,” said Richard, who declined to give his last name. “I would have said, ‘Tough. We have it. We’re doing it.’”
But executives at the go-to hotel for the ceremony were taking it more in stride. At the 54-story Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles and its sister JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. Live, more than 1,100 rooms have been booked for days by Grammy guests.
They include a $7,500 Ritz-Carlton presidential suite, with a six-wardrobe room for tuxes, gowns and shoes, rented to an unidentified celebrity.
Guests are also snapping up lux services at the hotel spa such as a Ritz-Carlton “Red Carpet Radiance” facial,” for $305, or a $230 “Champagne and Shimmer” body treatment that includes 24-carat gold dust sprinkled across the bust and shoulders.
“We are fortunate to be at ground zero for many of the award shows in Los Angeles,” said Javier Cano, vice president and market general manager for the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott. “We are very lucky. This whole complex was built for this.”
According to Cano, award shows are a gold mine for the businesses at L.A. Live.
“So many people come to downtown and this area in particular, during award shows. So a lot of businesses benefit,” he said. “We fill up. Many of the hotels fill up. Restaurants fill up. Bars fill up. Transportation companies. There are a lot of parties held all across the city.”
Staff Writer Elizabeth Chou contributed to this report.
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