characteristics for a hairdressing salon owner

Last January, a friend started an online singles magazine, LivingSingleMagazine.com, and asked if I would join as the beauty editor.

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Laura Rush, Neighbor Posted Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 7:04 p m CT Updated Thu, Sep 1, 2011 at 11:53 p m CT Reply Editors note: This is a story about and a fond goodbye from Anne Cheladyn to her customers after the salons 43 years in Geneva and her 18 years as manager or owner.

Its also a story about the challenges facing small businesses in general, and the salon business in particular.

But mostly its a heartfelt goodbye and good wishes for the people who made Act One a special place.

To Our Valued Clients, It is with a tremendous amount of sadness that I write this letter.

After 43 years of serving the Fox Valley area, Act One Hair Salon will be closing its doors on Sept.

Whenever a business closes, there is always much speculation as to what went wrong.

The staff and I all feel it is important for all of you to understand the circumstances under which this decision was made.

Subscribe Over the years, Act One has maintained an excellent reputation in the community of outstanding and reliable service.

Our wish is for that reputation to remain intact after the salon is gone.

During the past 10 to 15 years, industry experts have predicted that salons like ours would no longer exist.

New stylists out of school need the extended education programs offered by large, corporate salons, and experienced stylists with a clientele have moved toward running their own businesses out of chair-rental salons.

Subscribe In the past, most stylists preferred not to handle the accounting, marketing, reception and purchasing responsibilities themselves and relied on salon owners to manage their businesses for them.

With the current economic situation we are all dealing with, many of those stylists have decided that it is worth the effort to tackle those challenges themselves in order to provide a better life for their families.

Unfortunately for Act One, we are unable to compete financially with the chair-rental option.

Over the last 18 years, I have had the pleasure of working with some of the most amazing, talented stylists in the area.

They have not only been co-workers, but the best of friends, as well.

The Act One staff has always acted as a TEAM in every sense of the word.

I have seen new stylists blossom into true professionals under the guidance and education of the more-experienced team members and witnessed the most outstanding customer service possible by everyone on this team.

We have celebrated engagements, weddings and children together and supported each other through the most trying times, too.

I have also been blessed with the many friends I have made with you, the clients of Act One.

We are all grateful to you for your continued support of our salon.

Owning Act One for the past 12 years (I was a manager at Act One before purchasing the salon in 1999) has been a fabulous experience.

I was so impressed with the networking opportunities through the that, six months later, I joined the Board of Directors as a co-treasurer.

I not only made many business contacts, but some pretty good friends, too.

Characteristics For A Hairdressing Salon Owner