Pull into The Hair Garage
Among the metal-walled shops and attached garages in the quiet neighborhood north of the Spokane Valley Library, The Hair Garage stands a cut above the rest
“We laugh a lot. It’s very fun in here,” said Shelley Wilson on a recent afternoon.
Wilson and Debbie Isaac remodeled the small salon in October and have since renamed it to match its appearance.
“One of our male clients said, ‘I’m so glad I don’t have to go to The Hair Cottage,’ ” one of their earlier ideas for a new name, Isaac said.
Instead, the business reflects its car-cozy surroundings. Clients have brought in antique oil cans for decorations. A clock made from a hub cap adorns one wall, and the leaves of an artificial plant poke out from an old toolbox.
“We were trying to find a cute name that went with this building,” Isaac said.
The salon has been in operation for 14 years in half of a pole building belonging to the same person who rents out the house next door. The salon portion of it measures only about 300 square feet, but that’s plenty for Wilson, Isaac and their clientele.
“We decided that we liked the cozy, two-station salon,” Isaac said.
At their workplace, the other half of the building is devoted to storage, and without the sign out front it would likely blend in seamlessly with the rest of the homes and garages on North Union Street near Main Avenue.
Climate control seems to be the only drawback to using a garage to cut hair.
“It’s a tin building, so it’s hot,” Isaac said. Fortunately an air conditioner in the wall cools it down when started enough hours before the weather heats up.
On the price list, even the hairdos match the automotive theme. “Free flat repair,” for example, is code for complimentary bang trims.
Since Wilson and Isaac took over last fall, their regular customers have mostly taken to their new surroundings with enthusiasm, and regular suggestions for new garage memorabilia to add to the collection. As for the business owners, the décor was a natural transition.
“We like the homeyness of it,” Isaac said.