Asheville Lavender & Lace Hair Salon Is Expanding!
/Asheville is growing and so is Lavender and Lace Hair Salon - Hillary Loves Hair @instagram!
We have some big news! In 2019 we expanded! We have not relocated, it is the same location, just bigger. We just took down some walls and the rest is history! This larger salon will free up the space to have much more room to do our work. More elbow room, an extra color station, a few extra sinks and overall breathing room. I am so excited because this will help with appointment times, overall accommodations for our clients and having all the resources we need. The expansion will offer our clients a more spacious relaxing experience. The mountain views have doubled. After all of this, I must say, that I absolutely love the new place!
This year we got offered to expand our salon space, and we said “yes”
Towards the end of 2018, a very unique opportunity came up for us. Our neighbors moved out next door and we were offered to be able to knock down a wall and gain almost 500 square feet. Did I jump on this opportunity? No, I really had to think this through. For me, it was a big realization that not only being an artist doing my work, I was reminded of the many business decisions that comes with working independently. It was a tough choice and took a huge jump to decide. I remember the many pads of paper used over creating pros and cons lists. Yes, we are able to function where we were, and properly do our services. If we never expanded, I’m sure our current space would be still lovely and prosperous. However, I tried to think about the long game. If I didn’t take this opportunity would space become an issue in the future?
I asked myself, if I stay at my current space for 2 more years would I just grow out of it sooner or later? If I did grow out of it, would I be able to find a new space that has the same wonderful downtown Asheville location right outside of Pack Square park with convenient parking? Daily, I would waffle back and forth on this decision.
Another aspect was that I knew I wanted to expand eventually. Did I want to take the route of getting such a larger space that I would have to hire stylists and have extra chairs to manage the costs of operating? At this point I have a good grasp on the kind of person I am, I know I love doing hair but I also know the business side of me. I love being in my own space but I was just not sure about how much I would love to manage a staff and all that comes with it. Right now, I love that I have the time to manage myself in the sense of performing with skill and continuing education. I’m able to offer clients a one of a kind and one on one experience where they feel comfortable with my hands in there hair in a place they enjoy.
As I got closer to my decision, I recognized my true business goal was to continue becoming the best hair stylist I can be, in a space I love to go to everyday. I wanted to build my client list and become a well known top notch hair stylist. Heck maybe even win a WNC best award one year, right?! I wanted a salon that would wow my clients, offering great aesthetics. Most of all I wanted to offer a large space where my clients got 100% of me. I believe at that point I knew this was going to be a good move. In 2-5 years I would not feel cramped, or under pressure with a staffed business. I would be able to host a beautiful welcoming place that has ample space for me to do my work and my clients to enjoy. That was it, where do I sign and when do we get started. After a few months I finally made the decision to go with it!
New space, new additions, better hair experience.
Now back to describing the salon, yes? What is new you may ask? Well, we have another shampoo bowl, sink, color station and overall space to eliminate any cramped vibes. We also gained two more windows over looking downtown Asheville. This windows offer the salon a beautiful backdrop of four windows overlooking downtown Asheville buildings and the mountains skyline. It’s such a cool urban vibe and I love seeing the peaks of mountain view’s throughout my day now. Rotate your chair for an amazing view to look at while getting your hair done. Especially during long hair color and extensions processes. We are super stoked!
We finished the renovation at the beginning of February and are fully functioning in the new space. Now the fun part and tricky part, decorating. We ordered new stations from Minerva Beauty. They are gorgeous and highly functional. These stations are beautiful in arctic white, yes we know dangerous when working with color but we couldn’t resist. They have built in electrical for all of our tools and ample drawer space for storage. The floor to ceiling mirror has a clean and beautiful look. We also ordered brand new salon chairs from Minerva Beauty in a beautiful grey color. They are large and very comfortable. Probably the most comfortable and sexy chairs we have ever had for our clients. We just ordered a new bigger couch for the more spacious waiting area. I love being a small business owner for this reason, you get so excited about all the little things. Even the couch selection we get giddy about. It is a bold emerald teal color and super comfortable. I just got it today actually, and it is so SOFT! We painted the walls a gentle toned heather grey and the contrast with all the new furniture is just right. So, as of now, you may know we love chandeliers, thus are you wondering about what are we doing with our chandeliers? Well, we are adding more of course! We have some ordered but I’ll keep them a surprise for you to see on your next appointment. Very soon it will all come together and everything will be just right. We hope to have the decor delivered, setup and fully complete by the end of March. We are so excited.
We couldnt do it with our clients. We are so thankful for you!
We couldn’t be more grateful and elated about the new stage of our growth. We feel the salons vibe is truly becoming one of Ashevilles little secrets. It’s the place to know and go to for one of the best hair services, with a private vibe but having a large ambiance upscale salon feel. Chelsea and I both have been in the hair business for over 10+ years, so long that I lose count. A little over a year ago we made the decision to open our own salon independently. We were so excited for the responsibility and the ability to create our own space for us to do our art. The ability to create the vision we had and build the scene we wanted our clients to experience. We wanted something private, but still centralized in downtown Asheville. We wanted an upscale look with state of the art equipment while maintaining the Asheville cute and chill vibe. Therefore the opportunity to expand this soon, bringing the salon to the next level and truly create our vision is so humbling and exciting.
We have our loyal clients to thank for our success and we are thinking about you everyday during this expansion project. Yep, that’s what it all comes down to. It’s all you and we want this to be for you! We have you to thank for making us grow, the ability share our art and do what we love. Sure, we have skills but we wouldn’t be able to do it without your loyalty, business, and support. Most of all, your smiling faces. We are so fortunate to be surrounded by such good people everyday. It’s been amazing to see our clients excitement with us, and we love the engagement we get. You make us feel like this is not just an expanding business with Chelsea and I. It is a business growing with all of you. When we grow we all grow together. I love Ashevilles community for this, and it is great how I see this example in so many avenues in this city. I look forward to continuing all this with you, and working with your fabulous hair, of course! Thank you!
