:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/5CYOPD4KOSR3JX7DCXJOPRWEVI.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/JSCWB3WU5A5GPW7UBS5XODNXZI.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/A7YO7L6BQXWOJ6QXAZP4Y2IBT4.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/UMUY3HBA5KTEFH7QYADW7EY75U.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/QWP3CB5TCZJJ3U4INHURZKPCCQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/QGMQ5YPVTPTBBMO3HMT567B3NQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/TL4BWGGKM54L6ZFSUQ3UCFFKGY.jpg)
ERIE – In 1991, after 2 years clipping there for someone else, Mary Davis bought The Hair Center and Tanning Hut and made it her own.
She’s since grown her stable of stylists from three to seven.
Each has her own clientele and area of expertise. Each pays chair rent and is in charge of setting her own hours and fees, and each works an evening or two a week for clients who cannot get there during the day.
Three tanning beds and a massage room are upstairs, and a room for manicures and pedicures.
Angela Jacobs is a former Redken educator who now specializes in the Brazilian blowout, a process that helps to repair the cuticle of the hair, making it smoother and repairing split ends.
In a blowout, the hair is washed, product is applied, then the hair is blown dry and straightened with a straightening iron, to bind the product to the strands. You can stop there, or the hair can be rewashed and styled as usual. The whole process takes 2 to 3 hours, depending on hair length.
“Angela is not just my stylist,” client Karen Vroman said. “She is as excited by the transformation as I am.”
Amber Zaagman is an esthetician, specializing in microdermabrasion, facials, waxing and makeup.
Facials take about an hour and include a skin analysis, cleansing, exfoliating, shoulder/back/face massage and a mask. While the mask is on, the client gets a hand and scalp massage.
The diamond tip microdermabrasion helps remove dull, dry flaky skin and reduces wrinkles; it takes about 30 minutes.
Deb Jackson is the salon’s licensed massage therapist.
Rounding out the seven are Chrissi Stubbs, Sara Anderson, Carry Meyer, and Davis, who estimates that they have well over 100 years of experience among them. Erica Eng is her receptionist.
“Sara does an awesome job,” client Pam Wirth said. “I’ve been with her for 12 years.”
In addition to the hours she spends at the Hair Center, Mary has been head volleyball coach at Blackhawk College since 1991.
The team plays four or five games a week during the season; in late January, she was seven games away from a milestone 500 victories.
In December January and February, she assists the Erie volleyball team and recruits for Blackhawk.
Mary and her husband, Bob, live outside Erie with their daughter, Emma, Buddy the dog and Mittens the cat. Bob works in IT for the Burwood Group.
“I love to golf, and in the summer, we all like to hang out at the pool,” she said.
Emma also keeps mom on her toes: The 11-year-old is on a traveling softball team, a traveling soccer team, and a traveling volleyball team, and has band, choir and piano lessons.
The Hair Center
The Hair Center and Tanning Hut, 908 Albany St. in Erie, is open from 9 a.m. until about 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and evenings by appointment. Sometimes they close a bit earlier if there are no late-afternoon appointments, owner Mary Davis says, so walk-ins might want to call first.
Otherwise, find The Hair Center on Facebook or call 309-659-2520 for an appointment or more information.