Sandy Gipple, owner of Images Hair and Tanning, had to make a quick decision for her business last March. Over a year later, she’s sure she made the right decision.
Gipple found out on a Friday that the building Images had occupied for the past 18 years at 911 E. Main St. had been condemned and she had a short timeframe to move out. Within a few hours, she had made a deal to purchase another salon down the street and was making plans to move.
Knowing Florence Koch, owner of Hair For All at 1005 E. Main St. was contemplating retirement, Gipple set up a meeting to talk about a sale. By April 1 of last year, Images was back in business at the former Hair For All location.
Koch stayed on for a couple of months to ease the transition.
The new salon is much larger than Images’ old space.
“I love the space,” Gipple said. “I never realized what I was missing.”
Even though she spent 18 years in the old building, which was recently torn down, Gipple said she doesn’t miss it one bit.
There’s plenty of room for the five stylists who work at Images and the additional storage space is welcomed as well.
“All five of us can keep our extra supplies here,” Gipple said.
Images offers haircuts, colors, deep conditioning treatments, waxing, ear piercing and tanning. Gipple said she hopes to offer more services in the future.
To brighten up the interior, the salon received a major facelift shortly after Images moved in. The whole project was done over a weekend.
“We did a total makeover in the salon in 24 hours,” Gipple said. “We took everything out and started with an empty shell.”
The makeover included new paint, LED lighting and a skylight.
“The new lighting is much easier on our eyes,” Gipple said.
The building has been a salon for about 25 years and was previously a tavern.
“Some of our older clients remember it as a bar,” Gipple said.
With the interior reworked to suit Sandy’s style, the front of the building is next on the list of projects. A new sign is in the works, which will be accompanied by a complete façade facelift.