Beauty and Business Spirit Run Through Plaza Store Owner

Just out of high school, Michele Salameh started her own business – a clothes retailer and hair salon rolled into one. She would run it, just two streets from her parents' beauty shop in Wakefield, for about 16 years before ending that chapter of her life to spend more time with her children.

But as they say, when one door closes, another opens.

Today, her kids having grown old enough to graduate from high school themselves, or at least too old for the babysitter, Salameh is an entrepreneur once again.

Salameh owns two stores that sell jewelry, bags and other merchandise, called J'Adore. One recently opened at the , on the main level below the food court, and the other she opened a year ago in Wakefield.

The Wakefield store does well with consignment, Salameh said, "a sign of the times," though at the plaza she focuses on jewelry, especially Chamilia beads, which she said were unavailable there before.

"I thought it was a good concept for a mall," she said. "I love to shop and I love bargains."

But it can stretch her somewhat thin, she admits, running both the Braintree and Wakefield stores with only the help of her husband Alaa and occasional assistance from family and friends. It's a familiar feeling for Salameh.

Back when she was just out of high school, Salameh's parents owned a beauty shop and she decided to go to hairdressing and design school, and start her own store, called Michele Hair and Wear. She also taught classes in fashion illustration.

"I came from a hairdressing family," Salameh said. "I loved business. I loved doing hair, and I tried to combine them. ... When I was young, I was ambitious."