The quarter didn't feel like it. April ▲ 2.05%, May ▼ 2.03%, June ▲ 4.84% — and almost all of that spread is calendar, not demand. Both quarters ran 91 days, but May traded a fifth Thursday for a weaker fifth Sunday and June did the reverse. The underlying trend was far steadier than the monthly swings suggest.

Growth is still price related, not traffic. The average service ticket rose 2.86% to $90.76, while unique clients edged up just 0.14% and visits fell 0.56%. Color was the one exception on volume, up 0.91%.

Retail is a units problem, not a dollars problem. Revenue fell 4.50% but units fell 7.48%. Clients are buying fewer items and trading up on the ones they still buy — which means discounting is the wrong answer to it.

The market is still two markets. The 1–2 stylist cohort, six in ten salons on the panel, was down 4.08% — the only cohort negative for the quarter or the year. Pricing held there; clients did not. Every other cohort grew.

One quarter does not move a full-year plan, and the swings inside this one were largely calendar noise. The first half finished up 1.50%.