When the building which housed Catwalks Salon on Meeker Street burned down more than two years ago, it left not only a hole in the landscape of the block, but a hole in the hearts of the women who called the salon home.
“It was like losing my first-born,” said Janine Lang-Badgley, former owner of Catwalks. “I think I cried for two weeks.”
It was the team of stylists working together that made the salon unique, said Danay Mims, who was part of the group. But after the fire, that team broke up.
“We were dispersed a little bit around the area,” Mims said.
“We all kind of got shuffled around,” said Heidi Bourne, who also worked at Catwalks at the time of the fire.
The girls who worked together stayed in touch and took every opportunity they could to get together – weddings, baby showers, the anniversary of the fire – but they had to find work at other salons around the area.
The thought of putting the group back together, however, was never far from anyone’s mind.
“We always wanted to get back together. We had such a great thing,” Mims said.
This summer, they finally had their opportunity. Rising from the ashes of Catwalks like a phoenix – and almost directly across the street from the vacant lots where the building used to stand – Bourne and Mims have opened Styles on Meeker Salon. They’ve also set to work gathering the group they lost.
“We decided if we build it, they will come,” Mims said with a laugh.
And come they have. In just two months since the new salon opened, five of the original members of the Catwalks team have regrouped at the new salon, including Lang-Badgley, the former owner. Two more are on their way.
“They were so excited,” Bourne said of the stylists when she told them about the new place. “They were like, ‘make it happen and I’ll be there.’”
Mims said the current economic crisis helped reinforce the idea that the time was right to step out on their own.
“With the economic times, retail space became fairly inexpensive,” she said.
So the women got the space and worked to turn it into salon, adding sinks, a hardwood floor and a couple coats of paint. At 600 square feet, it is less than half the size Catwalks was, giving it a “small, quaint and boutique-ish feel,” according to Lang-Badgley.
Bourne said working at the new salon has the feel of a family reunion and that has made going to work in the morning less of a chore.
“It’s a great group of people to work together,” she said. “It’s nice and it’s comfortable and it’s fun to go to work again.”
According to Mims, the magic that made Catwalks such a fun place to work is also coming back, which she attributes to all of the stylists being positive, created and motivated, as well all happy to be back together.
“We all have that in common,” she said. “We all inspire each other very well.”
“It’s more relaxed,” Lang-Badgley said, comparing the salon to other places she’s worked. “We have fun.”
“In any job I’ve ever had it’s never been such a great place to go to work,” Mims said. “That’s coming back, that feeling.”
STYLES
The Styles on Meeker Salon is located at 317 W. Meeker St. For more information or to make an appointment, call 253-852-5047.
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