Boulevard Taps Ex-Chase Exec To Lead Payments Division

Boulevard, a provider of back-office management software for the spa and salon industry, appointed Biju Nair as the company’s new vice president of payments, the company announced Wednesday (Jan. 15).

The move follows the appointment of former MINDBODY Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Greg Wookey as Boulevard’s first CFO. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Boulevard is striving to reinvent the way premium spas and salons do business.

Nair will manage, develop and scale the company’s payments business unit. He brings more than two years of experience at point-of-sale (POS) system provider Toast, where he was the senior director of payment products. Prior to Toast, Nair was the vice president of product management at Chase Merchant Services.

“We’re thrilled to have Biju on board at Boulevard,” said Matt Danna, CEO and co-founder of Boulevard. “His experience and ability to scale businesses will take our payments division to greater heights. Biju is well respected in the payments community, and he’s been innovative with the payments products he’s put forward in the marketplace. Biju’s addition will help our premium spas and salon customers in their overall approach with how they interact with their customer base.”

Nair’s appointment comes at a time when Boulevard is working to solidify its participation in the payments landscape. As a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) company, Boulevard handles in excess of $100 million in customer payments for elite salons and spas.

“I’m very happy to join the Boulevard team,” Nair said. “Their approach to helping premium spas and salons operate more efficiently and smarter is much needed in the marketplace. I am very impressed with what Boulevard has been able to achieve in such a short period of time and look forward to presenting and implementing payment strategies to the benefit of Boulevard and for its existing and future client base.”

In November, investors Index Ventures and Bonfire Ventures contributed to Boulevard’s series A funding round, which raised $11 million. The salon and spa industry is worth $315 billion in the U.S., with almost 3 million small salons and barbershops and 4 million independent aestheticians.