Clearwater Salon Owners Welcome Beauty Pros Whose Salon Abruptly Closed

CLEARWATER, FL — When a competing salon suddenly closed in January, leaving the beauty professionals who called the space home in a lurch, Shawn and Lynn Foreman, the husband-and-wife team that owns Phenix Salon Suites in Clearwater quickly sprung into action to help them.

Just days into the new year, Mattison Avenue Salon Suites & Spa’s owners told the professionals renting space from them that the salon would be closing.

The tenants received emails on Jan. 2 telling them that they had to move out by Jan. 10, Shawn told Patch. And there was no guarantee there would be water or power during that time period.

“They got that letter the first week of the year. Many were just coming back from the new year, from the holidays. They had full books and were excited about getting the new year started, about getting going,” he said. “They should have been focused on work. But there was a very significant degree of urgency to move very fast.”

Patch has contacted the regional property manager for Mattison Avenue Salon Suites & Spa. This story will be updated if they respond.

The Foremans became Phenix Salon Suites franchisees in 2022, opening its 35-suite salon in Clearwater in September 2023.

The couple, who lives in Tampa, was looking for business opportunities after careers in other fields. Shawn spent 30 years in pharmaceutical sales leadership while Lynn, who works for Hilton, has been in hospitality.

“The beauty salon became a perfect fit. It was a great way for us to segue into entrepreneurship and business ownership while managing our full-time jobs,” he said.

Owning the salon put them in a position where they could step up to help the professionals displaced by the closure of Mattison.

“Particularly for small business owners not used to that level of urgency and uncertainty and instability in their business it could have created quite a disruption to their ability to maximize their livelihood,” Shawn said. “We were able to meet their needs and offer them an alternative that was incredibly beneficial for them and for us.”

Phenix was home to a stylist who previously worked out of Mattison and still had many friends there. She told the Foremans about their competitor’s sudden closure.

Shawn visited Mattison’s to hand out business cards and offer the professionals space at Phenix.

The salon was already running a promotion for tenants, offering their first two weeks rent free.

For those displaced by Mattison’s closure, the couple extended the deal by offering a reduced weekly rent for another two months.

“We wanted to help in the transition and make it as smooth and economically feasible as possible,” Shawn said. “Our whole goal was to help them get in fast, get in economically, then give them a little bit of a break for the first couple of months … and then hopefully within two-and-a-half months, they’re in their rhythm, their clients know where they are, and they’re up and running.”

Seven beauty professionals from Mattison took the Foremans up on their offer.

“Two were literally within 72 hours seeing new clients at our location,” he said. “Five others followed very shortly thereafter and transitioned within a week and a half, and had a fully functioning and operating business. It happened so quickly and they had to move with such pace because the building, the doors were being locked.”

The couple is excited to welcome these stylists and other beauty professionals to Phenix. Shawn stressed that they can all benefit from working together.

“It really helped us with regards to filling some vacant suites; now we’re very strong, and they were able to get back to work without missing too much of a beat,” he said. “When one ship is supporting another, the tide rises all boats. We’re building and supporting one another.”

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