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The Hair Apparent To Traditional Salons

TRIBUNE PHOTO CANDACE C. MUNDY

Elite Salon rents studio-styled space to individual stylists who operate their own business. The facility has 24 mini-salon suites within the larger suite, located at 14339 N. Dale Mabry Hwy. Stylist Dolores Hilton provides nailcare to client Susan Spillers.

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By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 20, 2008

Updated:

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CARROLLWOOD - Strolling through Elite Salon Suites' two dozen studios is like entering a mini-mall of hairdressers and nail technicians.

The new salon opened two months ago in the Grand Plaza strip mall in the former home of a Chinese restaurant.

It offers a different concept on how haircuts, up-dos, extensions, perms, waxing, and manicures are offered.

Instead of a traditional salon where stylists either work on commission or rent the chairs, at Elite Salon Suites each stylist rents a studio and operates it as a small salon.

Joanne Dix, a stylist and salon manager, said business has been filling up with hairdressers, nail technicians, make-up artists, and cosmetologists, all with an established clientele and interested in opening a business.

Dix, who operates Cosmo-Jo, joined Elite Salon Suites after a promotional postcard about the new salon concept opening in Carrollwood intrigued her.

At the time, she had worked 15 years as a stylist at a traditional salon where she rented a chair. Owners there also set their own rules, hours, the decor and what products to sell.

"I wasn't unhappy with where I was," she said. "It was just time for a change. It just sounded interesting."

Dix said she fell in love with the salon's independent business concept.

At Elite Salon Suites, each booth is self-enclosed with a sliding-glass door. Owners can choose which products to sell, price them, set their own hours, handle appointment schedules and personalize the space with their own style.

"It's like a co-op for stylists," Dix said. "This was a neat way for individual stylists to really have their salons without any of the extra headaches."

Each 10-foot-by-10-foot suite is self-contained with a sink area, a chair and cabinets. Some double suites are available. Stylists have customized their space by selling jewelry, hanging a flat-screened television, having a small refrigerator and decorative furnishings.

Thirteen of the 24 suites available are rented. The salon is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, but stylists have 24-hour access to their studios and may customize hours for their clients.

Dix said the business is getting some walk-ins because it is located in a busy strip mall.

"I love coming to work, because you can create your own environment," she said. "What I like most about this is the freedom, the independence."

Stylist Dolores Hilton, a hairdresser and nail technician, relocated to Elite Salon Suites at the beginning of June.

Hilton, who calls her studio Style by Dolores, said the salon is perfect for hairdressers who want to run their own business but don't want the headaches and challenges of running a full-fledged salon.

"It's a fabulous place to treat your clients the way you want to treat them," Hilton said.

Long-time client Susan Spillers, who has been seeing Hilton for decades, has followed her to different salons and loves the new location.

"To me, it's more Dolores. It's her design, her decorations," Spillers said as she was getting a manicure. "I associate with her instead of a salon where they have their way of doing things."

Both agree that a woman's relationship with a hairdresser is more like a friendship.

"It's more personalized," Hilton said. "It's like coming here and visiting me at my home."

ELITE SALON SUITES

ADDRESS: 14339 N. Dale Mabry Highway

PHONE: (813) 240-7166

WEB SITE: www.elitesalons.com

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.

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